Top 10 Most Common Cancer Types in Vietnam and Their Symptoms

Liver cancer is a common type of cancer, progresses rapidly, affects twice as many men as women, and is commonly found in people over 50 years old. The main causes of liver cancer in our country are hepatitis B and C. Additionally, liver cancer can also result from alcohol addiction, exposure to moldy foods, or infection with liver flukes, cirrhosis... Liver cancer ranks sixth among the most common cancers in the world with over 782,000 diagnosed cases each year. According to the Global Cancer Observatory (GLOBOCAN) report in 2018, there are approximately 841,000 new cases of liver cancer and 781,000 deaths worldwide every year due to this disease. Liver cancer also had the highest incidence rate in our country in 2018 with 25,335 cases, and the death rate due to this disease is nearly equivalent to the number of new cases.

Symptoms:

• Yellow skin due to decreased liver function leading to bilirubin accumulation in the body.
  
• Enlarged liver: When the liver enlarges, you may feel it on the right side of the upper abdomen, extending to the middle.
  
• Dark urine due to increased bilirubin levels in the blood changing the color of urine from dark yellow to brown.
  
• Fluid buildup in the abdomen causing abdominal distension.
  
• Nausea and vomiting without clear cause, you should see a doctor to check for any signs of liver dysfunction.
  
• Weight loss due to decreased liver function.
  
• Abdominal pain caused by liver enlargement and reduced function leading to abdominal pain. If you experience abdominal pain along with liver enlargement, you may have a liver disease.
  
• Itching often occurs mainly in patients with liver disease due to the increased bilirubin in the body. Decreased liver function leads to increased bilirubin, causing itching on the skin.
  
• Fatigue, although fatigue is a common symptom, it is also a common symptom in liver cancer patients.

Lung Cancer is a common type of cancer and its incidence is increasing. Recently, the disease has been appearing more in younger people, accounting for about 12% of all cancers worldwide. In our country, the incidence of lung cancer is 31/100,000 for men and 7/100,000 for women. The main cause is mostly from smoking, and if surgery is performed in the early stage, the 5-year survival rate for lung cancer patients is 40 - 50%.

Symptoms:

• Dry cough is the first sign to detect lung cancer, patients often suffer from a persistent dry cough. From dry cough, it can lead to coughing up sputum, even blood, especially in the early morning.
• Chest pain: Patients may experience persistent pain in the lung and chest area.
• Abnormalities in breast tissues: The chest area may become abnormal due to cancer cells stimulating abnormal hormone secretion.
• In addition, there are some symptoms such as hoarseness, difficulty swallowing and breathing, changes in finger and toenails, and facial vein congestion.

Colorectal Cancer is one of the most common cancers with a very high mortality rate. There are about 40,000 new cases diagnosed each year, and about half of them do not survive. Colorectal cancer is the fourth leading cause of death worldwide after lung cancer, stomach cancer, and liver cancer. However, if detected early, the cure rate can reach up to 90%. Many people have lived healthy lives for over 20 years after the disease was discovered.

Symptoms:

• Constipation: Having bowel movements less than 3 times a week indicates constipation. This condition occurs when you change your diet or daily exercise routine.
• Passing small stools is a sign that obstacles have encountered outside your stool in the digestive tract, causing the shape and size of the stool to become deformed. These obstacles may be tumors forming in the colon.
• Bloody stools: When stools pass through tumors, they not only change their size but also cause bleeding. Therefore, passing blood in stools is also a serious symptom of colorectal cancer.
• Gastric cramps: When tumors develop in the colon, they can block the passage and cause gastric cramps of varying severity depending on the progression of the disease.
• Unexplained weight loss: When tumors in the colon release chemicals that alter the body's metabolism, it can cause abnormal weight loss that patients cannot find the cause of.
• In addition, people with a family history (parents or siblings) of colorectal cancer are at 2-3 times higher risk than normal individuals.

Breast cancer primarily affects women and is the leading cause of death among them. While breast cancer can occur in men, it is rare (about 1 case in men for every 100 cases in women). Breast cancer is a malignant tumor. A lump can be benign (not cancer) or malignant (cancer). Most breast cancers start in the milk ducts, a small portion develops in the milk sacs or lobules. If breast cancer is detected and treated late, it may have already spread to the bones and other organs, intensifying the pain.

Symptoms:

• Nipple ulceration, discharge.
• Nipple retraction.
• Palpable lump or mass in the breast or armpit.
• Wrinkled breast skin, thickened like an orange peel.
• Changes in breast shape and color different from the other breast.
• Pain in one or more areas of the breast.
  

6. Bladder Cancer

Bladder cancer can affect both men and women of all ages. Older individuals are more at risk of developing this condition and may experience serious health implications. When the bladder is affected, it significantly impacts the functions of the urinary system, leading to kidney inflammation and failure. Bladder cancer is a malignant condition, ranking second among urinary tract cancers, only after prostate cancer. In our country, the number of new cases of bladder cancer is on the rise, possibly due to smoking, working in polluted environments, and exposure to chemicals. Most bladder cancer patients are over 40 years old.

Symptoms:

• Blood in the urine in bladder cancer has two characteristics. One is that the patient does not feel any pain. Medical science calls it painless hematuria. The second characteristic is intermittency, meaning blood in the urine occurs in episodes, which can stop or decrease. Two episodes of blood in the urine can be several days or even several months apart, or even half a year.
• Painful urination: This is considered an early sign of bladder cancer. Additionally, patients may experience frequent urination, difficulty urinating, and discomfort, such as a tingling sensation resembling a prolonged needle prick after urination.
• Urinary tract infections: Many patients are coincidentally diagnosed with bladder cancer while attempting to treat chronic urinary tract infections. Therefore, if urinary tract infections persist despite prolonged medication, you should seek early medical attention to investigate the underlying cause.
• Abdominal pain, pelvic bone pain: The bladder is located in the pelvic bone area. Therefore, if cancer develops, patients are susceptible to associated abdominal and pelvic bone pain.
• Back pain: Back pain often affects early-stage bladder cancer patients. Generally, there are many causes of back pain, so you need to pay attention to any unusual signs mentioned above.

7. Kidney Cancer

Kidney cancer ranks 9th in prevalence among adults and 3rd in urinary system cancers (after prostate cancer and bladder cancer), yet it has the highest mortality rate. The disease commonly affects males with a male-to-female ratio of 2:1. The highest age group affected is 60-70 years old. Kidney cancer is very rare in patients under 50 years old, although cases do occur in children. It accounts for 5% of cancer cases in young children, with the most common age group being 3-4 years old, of which about 1-2% have a familial component (Hereditary disease). Kidney cancer in children often combines with many congenital anomalies such as urinary tract anomalies, absence of one eye, or hemihypertrophy...

Symptoms:

• Blood in the urine: One of the symptoms of kidney cancer is blood in the urine. Patients will not feel pain when urinating, and the blood is completely visible in the urine and may be accompanied by abdominal pain in the kidney area.
• Kidney pain: Due to the larger tumor size and pressure on the kidney or lumbar region. About 50% of kidney cancer patients will experience this symptom.
• Palpable mass: About 1/3-1/4 of kidney cancer patients may detect a mass when diagnosed. The location of the mass is usually hidden before reaching a certain size, making it difficult to detect. When the patient can palpate and feel the mass in the kidney area, the disease is in the advanced stage.
• Systemic symptoms: According to statistics, about 10 - 40% of kidney cancer patients experience syndromes due to the side effects of the tumor. Symptoms related to kidney cancer include high blood pressure, anemia, polycythemia, weight loss, fever, abnormal liver function, increased blood calcium, increased blood sugar, high ESR, and neurological disorders. Among them, about 2 - 3% of cases will have venous thrombosis or venous extension into the abdomen.
• Symptoms of metastatic kidney cancer: About 10% of diagnosed kidney cancer patients have symptoms of metastasis. Symptoms of kidney cancer metastasis on the patient's body include bone pain, fractures, bloody cough, and other symptoms...

8. Thyroid Cancer

Symptoms:

• Enlarged lymph nodes: A lump grows on the neck but doesn't develop over time. Many patients underestimate this issue, even those with good medical knowledge, as it's quite common. However, this condition varies from individual to individual and requires individual analysis. If the lump doesn't disappear after a few months, it could be a tumor. If the lump has been on the neck for many years, it could be benign or malignant.
• Hoarseness: Patients suddenly experience hoarseness, often mistaken for throat inflammation or something growing on the vocal cords. However, it's actually a nerve problem affecting the vocal cords' function. If a person with thyroid cancer becomes hoarse, it indicates that the nerve of the vocal cords has been invaded, entering the final stage of thyroid cancer. The treatment method involves complete surgical removal. Preserving vocal cord function in this case requires very high technical skills.
• Coughing up blood: Especially in middle-aged and elderly patients, when coughing up blood is mentioned, people often think of lung problems, but unexpectedly, when examining the trachea through a bronchoscope, a tumor grows inside the trachea, caused by thyroid cancer metastasizing to the trachea.

9. Primary Lymph Node Cancer

Primary Lymph Node Cancer is a newly recognized type of cancer in humans, usually divided into 2 types: Hodgkin's lymphoma and non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma being 5 times more common than Hodgkin's lymphoma. Lymph node cancer starts in the lymphocytes, the infection-fighting cells of the immune system, called lymphocytes. These cells are found in lymph nodes, spleen, thymus, bone marrow, and other parts of the body. Lymphocytes change when a patient has lymph node cancer, causing them to grow rapidly and become uncontrolled.

Symptoms:

• One or more swollen lymph nodes in the neck, armpit, or groin that are painless. Swollen lymph nodes can be a sign of malignancy but are often seen with inflammation or other benign disorders. Two-thirds of cases of swollen lymph nodes have no obvious cause or are only due to upper respiratory tract disease.
• Unexplained weight loss.
• Fever, recurrent and prolonged fevers.
• Cough, shortness of breath, or chest pain.
• Fatigue, prolonged exhaustion.
• Abdominal pain, swelling, or feeling of fullness.
• Swollen spleen.
• Night sweats.
• Loss of appetite.

10. Cervical Cancer

Cervical Cancer is a common type of cancer in women, ranking second after breast cancer. According to the World Health Organization, cervical cancer is one of the leading types of cancer in women in Vietnam. Each year, about 6,000 women in Vietnam are diagnosed with the disease, and more than half of them die. Moreover, the number of women diagnosed with cervical cancer is increasing due to environmental pollution, diet, and unhealthy lifestyles.

Symptoms:

• Abnormal vaginal bleeding: This is a common symptom of cervical cancer. You may bleed between menstrual periods, during or after sexual intercourse, or at any time after menopause.
• Vaginal discharge with a foul odor: Abnormal vaginal discharge, green or yellow in color, or containing pus and blood, may be an early sign of cervical cancer. However, these symptoms can also indicate other gynecological disorders. Therefore, to determine the exact cause, you need to see a gynecologist.
• Pain, discomfort during sexual intercourse: Pain during sexual intercourse can be caused by many factors. However, experts still recommend that you seek medical attention for appropriate treatment or early detection of cervical cancer.
• Pelvic bone pain, lower back pain: The pain can range from dull to sharp, localized in the hip bone area before gradually spreading or can appear simultaneously in any area of the hip bone. If the pain has only recently occurred and you are not menstruating, it could be a sign of cervical cancer.
• Irregular menstrual cycles: Cervical cancer disrupts hormone balance in the body, affecting the development and release of eggs. Therefore, you may experience delayed menstruation, menstruation with dark color, etc.
• Changes in urination habits: Involuntary urination, bowel movements, or a small amount of blood in the urine may be warning signs of cervical cancer.
• Swellings and pains in the legs: As the tumor grows larger, it can compress the nerves and blood vessels in the pelvic region, causing leg pain and swelling.