Temporal Trends of Cancer Incidence in Vietnam, 1993-2007

RESEARCH COMMUNICATION
Temporal Trends of Cancer Incidence in Vietnam, 1993-2007
Duong Anh Vuong1,2*, Marcial Velasco-Garrido1, Truong Duc Lai3, Reinhard
Busse1
Abstract Purpose: There is a lack of an overview of overall and site-specific cancer incidence time trends in Vietnam, especially for the period after the year 2000. This paper aims at describing the development of cancer incidence for some cancer sites during 1993-2007. Methods: The Age Standardized Rate (ASR) of cancer incidence data from population based cancer registries of Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh and Cantho cities were used to analyze temporary trends of cancer incidence by site, age and sex group. Results: The ASR of cancer incidence increased from
151.1/105 in the period 1993-1998 to 160.0/105 in the period 2006-2007 for males and from 106.8/105 to 143.9/105 for females. By age, the highest ASR was found in the group of 75+ years in males and between 70-74 years in females, with ASRs of 1,109/105 and 619/105, respectively (2006-2007). Lung remains the most frequent site, followed by stomach and liver in males. In females, the most commonly affected site has shifted from cervix uteri in 1993-1998 to breast in recent years, followed by stomach and lung. Increasing trends were observed in incidence rates of 21 out of 34 cancer sites in males and 27 out of 35 cancer sites in females. Conclusion: Cancer incidences in general have continuously increased during 1993-2007. More efforts should be concentrated on developing and implementing tobacco-related cancer prevention interventions.
Keywords: Cancer - trends - incidence data - Viet Nam
Asian Pacific J Cancer Prev, 11, 1-6

Introduction In Vietnam, cancer has been considered as an emerging major public health problem since the 1990s (Ngoan,
2006b). According to previously reported data from Hanoi
Cancer Registry, the overall age-standardized rate (ASR) of cancer incidence increased between 1990 and 1996 from 133/105 to 166.5/105 in males and from 91.7/105 to
116.8/105 in females (Anh and Duc, 2002). Despite that overall increase, the incidence rate of some cancer sites has not changed or even slightly decreased. For example in the period between 1990 and 2000, lung cancer incidence
(ASR) declined in Vietnam from 30.4/105 to 30.1/105 in males and from 6.7/105 to 6.6/105 in females, although the magnitude of decrease varies among regions: in the area of Hanoi lung cancer incidence rate decreased from
34.9/105 to 33.1/105 in males and from 6.3/105 to 5.8/105 in females whereas in the area of Ho Chi Minh city the reductions were from 24.6/105 to 23.7/105 in males and from 6.8/105 to 5.6/105 in females. The reductions in the lung cancer incidence in both males and females have been attributed to the implementation of the National Tobacco
Control Program, which started in 1989 (Ngoan, 2006a).
Similarly, incidence of penis cancer has significantly decreased, it used to be frequently reported in the early case series within 1950s-1960s, later it was rarely seen

(Joyeux and Nguyen, 1950; Luong and Pham, 1964; Anh et al., 1993). The description of changes in cancer patterns over time is of vital interest in cancer control (Coleman et al., 1993).
The study of time trends in cancer incidence is relevant for at least three reasons: to evaluate the population impact of interventions such as diagnostic and therapeutic modalities; to assess the potential influence of risk factors and to estimate needs raised by cancer burden to the public health care system (Doll, 1991; Franceschi et al., 1994;
Geddes et al., 1994). To date, the time trends of cancer incidence have not been studied in detail, with the exception of the reports cited above. There is a lack of an overview of overall and site-specific cancer incidence time trends, especially for the time after year 2000. The aim of this paper is to close
this