The 17th National Conference on Cancer Control was jointly held by the Ministry of Health, the Vietnam Cancer Association and the Vietnam National Cancer Hospital in Hanoi on October 16 and 17. The two-day conference brought together health experts and delegates from foreign countries such as the US, Australia, France, Japan and Switzerland. The Graduation Thesis entitled “Inserting Port-A-Cath” of Ms. Truong Thi Mai, a DTU student of the Nursing faculty, was selected to present at the conference. The thesis was also published in the Vietnamese Journal of Clinical Oncology, 2014.
Ms. Truong Thi Mai and DTU students of the Nursing faculty at the DTU laboratory
Cancer is a fatal disease, which has become the leading concern of most countries in the world. Nowadays, doctors examine, test and treat cancer patients using many varied advanced treatment modalities and technologies such as surgery, chemotherapy and radiation therapy, of which chemotherapy is most widely-used. However, using chemicals for cancer treatment causes atherosclerosis, especially in areas where a Mediport is frequently inserted. Very often, cancer patients suffer from pain and fatigue when the nurse finds a vein for chemotherapy medicine infusion.
To make up for this shortcoming, since the 1980s, Port-A-Cath has been widely used for cancer patients during their treatment. However, in Vietnam, three health centers, namely Ho Chi Minh City Oncological Hospital, Cancer Hospital and the Oncological department of Danang Hospital, are capable of providing the Port-A-Cath technique. Spending many years taking care of cancer patients, after graduating in Nursing at the Central High school of Healthcare, Ms. Truong Thi Mai decided to study a Bachelor of Nursing at Duy Tan University. She chose “Inserting Port-A-Cath” as her graduation thesis. In fact, Ms. Truong Thi Mai has applied this thesis as a chief nurse of the Oncological department of Danang Hospital.
Realizing the importance and significance of using Port-A-Cath in tumor treatment, the graduation thesis of Ms. Truong Thi Mai was selected for presentation at the 17th National Conference on Cancer Control held in October 2014. This was an opportunity to showcase to a large number of health staff and nurses an effective infusion form which can be replicated nationwide.
Ms. Truong Thi Mai said: “Witnessing cancer patients suffer from pain and fatigue whenever I find a vein for the infusion has urged me to write this thesis. It was the time studying and practising at DTU, however, that became the very 'catalyst' for me to start my thesis as soon as possible. I have acquired a lot of the latest knowledge from highly qualified faculty at DTU. I have become more confident and know how to access scientific research methods very well. Skilled nurses, in addition to taking care of patients, really need to have special skills such as first treatment and early detection of abnormalities after surgery. I am very delighted to learn this during my time working at the Department of Oncology and at DTU.”
Previously, at the 24th Annual Meeting of the KSMCB held in Seoul, Korea, in 2012, Dr. Duong Hong Quan, a member of the DTU Institute for Research and Development, presented three scientific abstracts focusing on pancreatic adenocarcinoma cells, entitled “Aldehyde dehydrogenase 1A1 (ALDH1A1) confers intrinsic and acquired gemcitabine resistance to pancreatic adenocarcinoma cells”, “Inhibition of checkpoint kinase 2 (CHK2) significantly enhances sensitivity of pancreatic adenocarcinoma cells to gemcitabine” and “The anti-tumor effects by BML-275, AMPK inhibitor in pancreatic adenocarcinoma cells”. These three scientific abstracts were well received at the conference.
The research papers on cancer and the support of DTU faculty and students to cancer patients contribute to fighting the incurable genetic disorder with high mortality rates and help expanding collaboration in cancer research between universities, research institutes and hospitals in Vietnam.
(Media Center)