Hanoi brothers diagnosed with lung cancer after years of smoking

Dr. Nguyen Duy Anh of Phuong Dong General Hospital said on Wednesday that the 49-year-old brother discovered he had late-stage lung cancer around one year ago, after experiencing symptoms such as persistent coughing, significant weight loss and chest pain. Despite receiving intensive treatment, he passed away from the illness.

The younger brother's death prompted his older sibling to seek medical screening, and he was also diagnosed with lung cancer. Both brothers had smoked approximately one packet of cigarettes per day for many years, and doctors attributed their cancer diagnoses directly to this prolonged smoking habit.

Currently, the surviving brother is undergoing chemotherapy and immunotherapy treatments.

Lung cancer is the second most common cancer in Vietnam, after liver cancer. The country reports around 26,000 new lung cancer cases annually, resulting in approximately 23,000 deaths each year. About 75% of lung cancer patients in Vietnam are diagnosed at late stages, primarily because symptoms typically become noticeable only when tumors grow large and invade surrounding tissues.

According to Dr. Anh, cigarette smoke contains more than 7,000 chemical substances, including 70 known carcinogens. Medical research indicates that approximately 90% of lung cancer cases in men are directly related to smoking.