Tobacco - a cause of nasopharyngeal cancer.

According to a report by the Ministry of Health, in 2015 Vietnamese people spent 31 trillion VND on healthcare.cigaretteIn addition, the total cost of treatment and losses due to disability and premature death in 5 disease groups related tocigaretteThe costs for lung cancer, upper respiratory and gastrointestinal cancers, myocardial infarction, stroke, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) amount to 23 trillion VND per year.

Tobacco is a contributing factor to nasopharyngeal cancer. (Image: Internet)

This disease is regionally specific, with the highest incidence in southern China. Vietnam and other Southeast Asian countries have average incidence rates. The exact causes of nasopharyngeal cancer are still unclear. However, three main risk factors are Epstein-Barr virus, genetics, and environment.

Due to its deep location, nasopharyngeal cancer is often difficult to detect early, and its symptoms are often confused with those of other organs. Therefore, patients often come to the hospital late or have already received treatment in other specialties such as ENT, ophthalmology, or neurology. Diagnosis of nasopharyngeal cancer is based on clinical signs, nasopharyngeal endoscopy, imaging, cytological diagnosis, and histopathology.

Radiation therapy is the primary treatment method for nasopharyngeal cancer. For early-stage disease, the 5-year survival rate is over 90%. A newer treatment method is radiotherapy combined with chemotherapy, especially concurrent chemoradiotherapy.

When surveying 10 people, 9 of them knew that tobacco seriously affects and is the leading cause of throat and lung cancer. However, worryingly, few understood the mechanisms of the disease or knew how to prevent and combat the harmful effects of tobacco.

Nasopharyngeal cancer is the leading type of head and neck cancer and one of the 10 most common cancers in Vietnam. There are three basic signs of nasopharyngeal cancer: headaches, tinnitus, and coughing up blood. However, like many other cancers, nasopharyngeal cancer often has few specific symptoms in the early stages, so patients often overlook it and mistake it for sinusitis when they only experience transient headaches or nasal congestion.

When the disease progresses to a severe stage, additional symptoms may appear, such as: nosebleeds or congestion, bloody sputum, ear problems, swelling of the neck due to enlarged lymph nodes, drooping eyelids, dizziness, etc. “If detected early, nasopharyngeal cancer can be cured. However, in reality, more than 90% of patients with this cancer seek medical attention when the disease is already in a late stage.”