Vaccinations help to prevent some cancers

The country's oncology-prevention programmes should focus on treatable infections by encouraging the use of vaccinations and antimicrobial treatment, a group of oncologists have recommended.
The country's oncology-prevention programmes should focus on treatableinfections by encouraging the use of vaccinations and antimicrobialtreatment, a group of oncologists have recommended.

Vaccinationscould be key to prevent some of the infection-related cancers, includingliver and cervical cancers, according to an article published by thesix oncologists in the Vietnam Oncology Journal.

Infections andcancer often provide unique models of pathogenesis in relation todiagnosis, therapy, screening and prevention, according to their report,which was presented at an oncology conference held in HCM City onDecember 4.

For instance, HBV vaccinations have been shown to prevent liver cancer in high-incidence countries.

The HPV vaccine, which is now available, reduces the chances of getting cervical cancer.

Areport from the World Health Organisation in 2003 showed that up to 23percent of malignancies in developing countries were caused byinfectious agents.

In developed countries, cancers caused by chronic infections accounted for approximately 8 percent of all malignancies.

Aninfective agent is linked to some of the most common cancers. H.pylori, for example, causes gastric cancer; human Papillomavirus causesthe vast majority of cervical cancer; and hepatitis viruses cause livercancer.

These type of cancers are among the top five mostprevalent cancers in Ho Chi Minh City, according to the HCM CityOncology Hospital.

From 2008 to 2012, the hospital was in charge of recording population-based cancer registration in the city.

Inthe city, 34,581 cancer patients were observed during this period. Thecrude rate (the number of cancer cases divided by the population andmultiplied by 100,000) of the two genders was 92.2 in male and 100.5female per 100,000, according to the hospital.

Theage-standardized rate (which takes into account how many old or youngpeople are in the population) of the two genders was 134.5 in male and109.9 in female per 100,000.

The most common cancers in both genders increased rapidly from the age of 40.

Comparedto the 2000-2004 period, there was an increase in both the crude rateand age-standardized rate, according to the oncologists' researchfindings.

Also at the conference, a study investigating therates of depression and factors in breast cancer patients in HCM Cityhospitals was presented.

The study of 339 breast cancer patientsshowed that a high percentage of breast cancer patients had positivescores of depression, with 28.6 percent. Mild depression affected 13.6percent of the patients.

Depression prevalence was highest among patients aged over 70, the illiterate, poor patients, the unemployed and the unmarried.

Theresearch findings showed that doctors need better understanding ofdepression in breast cancer patients, and should choose the appropriatetreatments to improve their quality of life.-VNA

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