Vietnam has a large number of people with liver cancer, Dr. Dao Quang Long, president of the Hanoi-based Medical University, said at a seminar held in Vung Tau on October 18.

The main causes of the disease are the viruses that cause hepatitis B and C; aflatoxin, a toxin produced in some foods that are not well preserved; alcohol; and cirrhosis.

Dr. Long added that 10,000 people get the disease every year.

It has a mortality rate of 90 per cent when discovered late, with people dying within a year.

The seminar, organized by Vietnam Bayer Chering Pharma, saw the participation of many leading oncologists from Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City.