Vietnam is about to have the most modern cancer radiotherapy center in the region.

The Ministry of Health is planning to establish a center for proton and heavy particle radiotherapy. Once it comes into operation, Vietnam will be the first country in ASEAN to use this new technique to treat cancer.

On the sidelines of the workshop on the application of proton and heavy particle radiotherapy in cancer treatment, Associate Professor, Dr. Tran Van Thuan, Director of K Hospital, said that this is an advanced, modern and safe method, applied by many developed countries. However, in Asia, only Japan and Korea have implemented it.

Associate Professor Thuan said that heavy ion radiotherapy allows radiotherapy for tumors that are resistant to other radiotherapy (Cobalt radiotherapy, accelerator radiotherapy, etc.). In addition, the radiotherapy time is shorter, for example, radiotherapy for lung tumors using a conventional accelerator takes 4-5 weeks, but with the new radiotherapy method, it only takes 1 session (about 10 minutes).

Mr. Tran Van Thuan, Director of K Hospital.

He also said that with conventional radiotherapy or chemotherapy methods, it is difficult to avoid affecting healthy cells or organs adjacent to the tumor or bone marrow, but with the new radiotherapy method, there are almost no side effects, so this is the only radiotherapy method applied in childhood cancer...

This method is also very effective in treating lung, head and neck, and prostate cancer.

Studies from other countries have shown that the rate of patients treated with heavy ions whose tumor size has decreased or not increased after 3 years is very promising. For example, for non-small cell lung cancer, this rate is over 90%; for liver cancer, it is 80-90%; and for prostate cancer, it is nearly 100%.

At the same time, the survival time of cancer patients also increased, the 3-year survival rate for stage 1 and 2 lung cancer is 86%, liver cancer is 72%; head and neck cancer is 74%...

However, the biggest obstacle in bringing this method to Vietnam is the cost. If both systems are implemented, it will require an investment of 150 million USD (about 3,500 billion VND). Therefore, K Hospital submitted to the Ministry of Health a step-by-step plan, first implementing proton radiation.

In Vietnam, accelerator radiotherapy is the most modern generation of cancer radiotherapy today.

It is known that yesterday afternoon, Minister of Health Nguyen Thi Kim Tien sat down with domestic and foreign experts to discuss the plan to soon establish a proton and heavy particle radiotherapy center at K Hospital. If implemented, this will be the most modern radiotherapy center in Southeast Asia.

"There are many options. If the government provides funding, that is the best option. If not, we will mobilize social capital and invite domestic and foreign investors to work together on a public and transparent basis," said Mr. Thuan.

He said that abroad, the cost of each proton radiotherapy session is from 500-700 million VND, however, when implemented in Vietnam, it will have to be carefully calculated and will certainly be cheaper.

Associate Professor Thuan also hopes that health insurance will help cover part of the costs for cancer patients so that many people can benefit from this advanced treatment method.

According to VNN