International cooperation puts Vinmec at forefront of cancer treatment

March 22, 2017 | 14:00

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On March 22, Vinmec International Hospital held a press conference with the participation of professor Gustav von Schulthess, director of the Nuclear Medicine Clinic at the University Hospital in Zurich, Switzerland, to talk about Vinmec’s achievements through cooperation with University Hospital, and what the two sides are planning in order to improve the quality of cancer treatment for Vietnamese patients.

Professor von Schulthess has been a long time partner of the hospital. This time, he came to help Vinmec deploy the newest medical imaging technologies, including the first 128-slice PET-CT system in Vietnam.

The two sides also discussed the training of human resources in order to most efficiently use the equipment. Vinmec is going to send doctors to study in Zurich. These doctors will later teach their colleagues in Vinmec. Also, Vinmec and University Hospital will hold telemedicine conferences to exchange experience. Professor von Schulthess and colleagues will continue to visit and work with Vinmec.

In addition, Vinmec plans to soon deploy the PET MRI system—a cutting edge technology both in Vietnam and Asia.

Established in 2014, the Vinmec oncology centre is the first Vietnam that provides comprehensive care to cancer patients, with the cooperation of different departments in the hospital, namely medical imaging, the study of tissues, gene technology, chemotherapy, radiotherapy, surgery, psychology, nutrition, pain treatment, and stem cell therapy.

The centre is deploying modern technologies, such as using gene technology in diagnosis and choosing the right chemotherapy schedule, stem cell therapy, and targeted therapy. These are the newest forms of treatment and considered the most comprehensive with least side effects and the highest success rate.

The centre is cooperating with many big hospitals in Italy, Japan, the US, and Taiwan to treat many types of cancer, including breast cancer, leukemia, gastro-intestinal cancers, and reproductive cancers.

Doctor Bui Duc Phu, director of Vinmec Times City

International cooperation motivates Vinmec’s staff to continuously improve their capacity. Professor von Schulthess is a long-time friend of Vinmec. In recent years he has helped train many Vinmec doctors in medical imaging.

We will continue cooperation with Professor von Schulthess not only in training, but also in telemedicine, and in other areas.

Vinmec hopes to receive the American College of Radiology Diagnostic Imaging Center of Exellence achievement in a few years.

Professor Gustav von Schulthess, director of the Nuclear Medicine Clinic at University Hospital in Zurich, Switzerland

Medical imaging is crucial, because—if done correctly— it shortens the time of diagnosis and working out a treatment plan and therefore boosts/increases efficiency in treatment.

Vietnam has started PET/CT scanning for some time and I am glad that Vinmec now embarks on introducing this technique for the benefit of their patients. The doctors in Vinmec’s imaging department are in an excellent position to start a high-quality service, and we in Zurich will do everything to support them in this endeavour. It will be a delight to work with the Vinmec Imaging Specialists, both on a clinical and a personal level, and I am confident that this will be a very fruitful and enriching collaboration for both sides. Zurich will help to jumpstart Vinmec’s operation and potentially joint patient centred studies can be planned in the near future.

Form all the interactions I had with my Vietnamese colleagues, I am confident that Vinmec is off to a great start in the molecular imaging of cancer, which is a crucial step to better treat such diseases.