The Ha Noi Medical University is acquiring immune cell therapy know-how from Japanese experts to treat cancer patients.

Illustrative photo (Photo: thanhnien.vn)

The University's Vice President, Professor Ta Thanh Van, said that this advanced treatment has been used in a number of medical centres in Japan for several years now and has proved its worth.

The Ha Noi Medical University has sent a delegation of leading experts in molecular and cellular biomedicine to Japan in order to receive training in cell therapy.

The implementation of cell therapy in Viet Nam will be under periodic monitoring by Japanese experts who will also make recommendations and consultations.

As of now, the university has already met with requirements in terms of infrastructure and specialised equipment and specially qualified human resources in order to deploy the cell therapy treatment.

Mr Yoshinobu Matsuo, who works for the Grandsoul Nara Clinic in Japan said “Cell therapy has been in use by the Grandsoul Nara corp. since 2006. We have treated thousands of cancer patients in Japan and other countries in the region".

“Statistics show the success rate of cancer containment at 54.4%; however, it is a very safe treatment. In 10 years of implementation, no significant side effects or complications have been observed so far.”

He cited a few examples. After treatment, the tumour showed signs of shrinking in a 75-year-old patient whose liver cancer had spread to the lungs. The same thing happened to a 64-year-old male patient whose cancer had metastasized, as well as a 30-year-old kidney cancer patient.

Van said a detailed proposal and programme plan is being prepared by the university’s biomedical ethics council to submit to Ministry of Health so as to get permission to conduct cell therapy on cancer patients. He is hopeful of getting the ministry’s approval, he added.

According to the National Institute for Cancer Control, more than 160,000 new cancer patients are detected every year. There are 115,000 cancer deaths ever year.

The most frequently diagnosed cancers in men are lung, stomach, liver, colon, and rectum cancers – accounting for 42,000 cases per year.

The most frequently diagnosed cancers in women are breast, lung, colorectal and cervix cancers – accounting for 30,000 cases per year.

(Source: VNA/ DA NANG Today)