A cross-sectional study of sleep disturbance among middle-aged cancer patients at Vietnam National Cancer Hospital.

Aim: Sleep disorders are common in cancer patients and have negative consequences for patient well-being and treatment outcomes. This study aimed to investigate sleep quality and related factors in Vietnamese middle-aged cancer patients.

Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted on 246 middle-aged in-patient cancer patients at Vietnam National Cancer Hospital (VNCH) from 1/2021 to 7/2021.

Gut Microbiome of Patients With Breast Cancer in Vietnam.

Purpose: Gut microbiota play an important role in human health, including cancer. Cancer and its treatment, in turn, may alter the gut microbiome. To understand this complex relationship, we profiled the gut microbiome of 356 Vietnamese patients with breast cancer.

Gut microbiome in association with chemotherapy-induced toxicities among patients with breast cancer.

Background: Little research has focused on the relationship between gut microbiome and chemotherapy-induced toxicity.

Methods: This prospective study involves 301 patients with breast cancer who had prechemotherapy stool samples collected. Gut microbiome was sequenced by shotgun metagenomics; associations with chemotherapy-induced toxicities during first-line treatment by gut microbial diversity, composition, and metabolic pathways with severe (i.

Dietary and supplementary vitamin C intake and the risk of lung cancer: A meta‑analysis of cohort studies.

Previous cohort studies reported inconsistent findings regarding the association between dietary or supplementary vitamin C intake and lung cancer risk. These associations were investigated by conducting a meta-analysis of cohort studies. The PubMed and EMBASE databases were utilized, using keywords related to the topic from inception to April 15, 2022.

Chemotherapy-Induced Toxicities and Their Associations with Clinical and Non-Clinical Factors among Breast Cancer Patients in Vietnam.

Understanding the burden and factors related to chemotherapy-induced toxicity is important in treatment planning for breast cancer patients. We conducted a prospective study among 396 newly diagnosed and chemotherapy-treated breast cancer patients recruited in two major cancer hospitals in northern Vietnam. Toxicities were captured through medical chart reviews and patient self-reports and graded using NCI CTCAE classification.

Preliminary results of adapting the stepped care model for depression management in Vietnam.

Background: Depression is the leading burden of mental disease, especially in low-and-middle-income countries like Vietnam. The Stepped Care Model is a promising approach to managing depression in the community with low resources. This is the first study that implemented the adapted Stepped Care Model for depression management in the Vietnamese context and evaluated the initial effectiveness of this community-based intervention in the Thai Nguyen community.

Childhood encephalitis in the Greater Mekong region (the SouthEast Asia Encephalitis Project): a multicentre prospective study.

Background: Encephalitis is a worldwide public health issue, with a substantially high burden among children in southeast Asia. We aimed to determine the causes of encephalitis in children admitted to hospitals across the Greater Mekong region by implementing a comprehensive state-of-the-art diagnostic procedure harmonised across all centres, and identifying clinical characteristics related to patients' conditions.

Methods: In this multicentre, observational, prospective study of childhood encephalitis, four referral hospitals in Cambodia, Vietnam, Laos, and Myanmar recruited children (aged 28 days to 16 years) who presented with altered mental status lasting more than 24 h and two of the following minor criteria: fever (within the 72 h before or after presentation), one or more generalised or partial seizures (excluding febrile seizures), a new-onset focal neurological deficit, cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) white blood cell count of 5 per mL or higher, or brain imaging (CT or MRI) suggestive of lesions of encephalitis.

Tilapia Lake Virus (TiLV) from Vietnam is genetically distantly related to TiLV strains from other countries.

Tilapia Lake Virus (TiLV) is reported as a threat to tilapia aquaculture in 16 countries on four continents with outbreaks causing up to 90% mortality. This research is one of the first studies on TiLVs from Vietnam. We propagated successfully one TiLV isolate HB196-VN-2020 from a diseased tilapia sample using an E-11 cell line and evaluated its virulence in two different weights of red hybrid tilapia and three serial 10-fold diluted viral titers.

Mental Health Problems Among Front-Line Healthcare Workers Caring for COVID-19 Patients in Vietnam: A Mixed Methods Study.

Aim: Healthcare workers have directly provided care for COVID-19 patients, and have faced many additional sources leading to poor mental health. The study aimed to investigate the mental health problems and related factors among healthcare staff in Vietnam.

Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional mixed methods study, combining quantitative and qualitative research methods, was performed among 400 healthcare workers working at the National Hospital for Tropical Diseases and Ninh Binh General Hospital from the first day of treatment for COVID-19 patients to May 01, 2020.

Virological characteristics of cases of COVID-19 in northern Viet Nam, January-May 2020.

Background: Viet Nam confirmed its first case of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection on 23 January 2020 among travellers from Wuhan, China, and experienced several clusters of community transmission until September. Viet Nam implemented an aggressive testing, isolation, contact tracing and quarantine strategy in response to all laboratory-confirmed cases. We report the results of SARS-CoV-2 testing during the first half of 2020 in northern Viet Nam.

Association of Fruit, Vegetable, and Animal Food Intakes with Breast Cancer Risk Overall and by Molecular Subtype among Vietnamese Women.

Background: Evidence on associations between dietary intake and risk of breast cancer subtypes is limited and inconsistent. We evaluated associations of fruit, vegetable, meat, and fish consumption with risk of breast cancer overall and by molecular subtype in the Vietnamese Breast Cancer Study (VBCS).

Method: VBCS includes 476 incident breast cancer cases and 454 age-matched controls.

Delay in the diagnosis and treatment of breast cancer in Vietnam.

Background: Delays in diagnosis and treatment from first noticeable breast cancer symptoms are associated with poor outcomes. Understanding the reasons and barriers for patients' delay in seeking medical care is critical to mitigating the problem.

Methods: In-person surveys were conducted among 462 women, aged 18-79, with incident breast cancer cases, recruited from two cancer hospitals in North Vietnam.

Human Adipose-Derived Mesenchymal Stromal Cells Exhibit High HLA-DR Levels and Altered Cellular Characteristics under a Xeno-free and Serum-free Condition.

Background: We have observed an increased expression of negative markers in some clinical-grade, xeno- and serum-free cultured adipose-derived mesenchymal stem/stromal cell (ADMSC) samples. It gave rise to concern that xeno- and serum-free conditions might have unexpected effects on human ADMSCs. This study aims to test this hypothesis for two xeno- and serum-free media, PowerStem MSC1 media (PS) and StemMACS MSC Expansion Media (SM), that support the in vitro expansion of ADMSCs.

Culture matters: adapting supportive programs for cancer patients in low- and middle-income countries.

The global burden of cancer falls heavily on low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), where there are critical gaps in the provision of supportive care services, which leaves many cancer patients in these settings feeling overwhelmed and unable to manage the psychological effects associated with a cancer diagnosis and the ensuing treatment. In addressing these gaps, we adapted a widely replicated cancer peer mentoring model in the USA to the Viet Nam context. Using the Cultural Adaptation Framework, we examined cultural characteristics affecting three key domains-cognitive information processing, affective-motivational, and environmental-to inform the types of adaptations that are made to the program.

Gastric cancer: epidemiology, biology, and prevention: a mini review.

Gastric cancer is one of the most common causes of cancer-related mortality worldwide. The objective of this article is to review the epidemiology and biology of gastric cancer risk. This literature review explores the biological, clinical, and environmental factors that influence the rates of this disease and discuss the different intervention methods that may not only increase the awareness of gastric cancer but also increase screening in efforts to reduce the risk of gastric cancer.

Compliance to dietary guidelines on fruit and vegetable intake and prevalence of hypertension among Vietnamese adults, 2015.

Aims: The aim of this study was to investigate whether the Western dietary guidelines on fruit and vegetable intake are associated with blood pressure parameters and hypertension among Vietnamese adults.

Methods: Participants included 1384 women and 1049 men aged 18-69 years from the 2015 Vietnam national survey on risk factors of non-communicable diseases. Associations between dietary intake score based on the Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) guidelines and World Health Organization recommendations on fruit and vegetable consumption and blood pressure parameters and hypertension were evaluated by multivariate regression analyses.

Seasonal, Spatial Variation, and Potential Sources of Organochlorine Pesticides in Water and Sediment in the Lower Reaches of the Dong Nai River System in Vietnam.

The goals of the current study were (1) to examine seasonal and spatial variation of selected OCPs concentrations and (2) to identify potential sources of the pollutants in the lower reaches of the Dong Nai River system. Forty-eight water and sediment samples were taken from 12 stations in the dry and rainy seasons to determine the concentrations of dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane and its metabolites (total DDTs), hexachlorocyclohexane isomers (total HCHs), heptachlor, aldrin, dieldrin, and endrin. The concentrations of total DDTs (0.

The interactive effect of the season and estuary position on the concentration of persistent organic pollutants in water and sediment from the Cua Dai estuary in Vietnam.

The current study was conducted in the Cua Dai estuary, Vietnam, (1) to assess the status of persistent organic pollutants (POPs) and (2) to examine the interactive effect of season and estuary position on the concentration of the pollutants in surface water and sediment. Fifty-two water and sediment samples were taken in the dry and rainy seasons from inner- and outer-estuary positions to analyze for six POPs, including hexachlorocyclohexane isomers (HCHs), dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane and its metabolites (DDTs), heptachlor, aldrin, dieldrin, and polychlorinated biphenyl (PCBs). The averaged concentrations of the respective POPs in water samples were 0.

Viral co-infections among children with confirmed measles at hospitals in Hanoi, Vietnam, 2014.

Objective: To characterize viral co-infections among representative hospitalized measles cases during the 2014 Hanoi outbreak.

Methods: Throat swabs were collected from 54 pediatric patients with confirmed measles, and molecular diagnostics performed for 10 additional viral respiratory pathogens (Influenza A/H1N1pdm09; A/H3N2 and influenza B; Parainfluenza 1, 2, 3; Respiratory Synctial Virus, RSV; human Metapneumovirus, hMPV; Adenovirus and Picornavirus).

Results: Twenty-one cases (38.

Improved therapeutic effect against leukemia by a combination of the histone methyltransferase inhibitor chaetocin and the histone deacetylase inhibitor trichostatin A.

SUV39H1 is a histone 3 lysine 9 (H3K9)-specific methyltransferase that is important for heterochromatin formation and the regulation of gene expression. Chaetocin specifically inhibits SUV39H1, resulted in H3K9 methylation reduction as well as reactivation of silenced genes in cancer cells. Histone deacetylase (HDAC) inhibitors inhibit deacetylases and accumulate high levels of acetylation lead to cell cycle arrest and apoptosis.

Fludarabine-containing chemotherapy for patients with previously untreated low-grade non-Hodgkin's lymphoma.

Background: The clinical efficacy and safety of fludarabine combination chemotherapy was investigated for the treatment of previously untreated patients with low-grade (NHL).

Methods: Twenty-five patients who were newly diagnosed as low-grade NHL were treated with fludarabine combination chemotherapy. Fludarabine combination regimens consisted of fludarabine, mitoxantrone and dexamethasone or fludarabine, cyclophosphamide and mitoxantrone with or without rituximab and repeated every 4 weeks.

Association of GSTT1 polymorphism with acute myeloid leukemia risk is dependent on smoking status.

Genetic polymorphisms in drug-metabolizing, DNA repair and multidrug resistance genes affect the risks for many cancers. We analyzed 21 polymorphisms in 17 genes in these pathways to evaluate their association with the risk of acute myeloid leukemia (AML) and to examine whether smoking modifies these associations in a population-based study in Korea (415 cases, 1700 controls). We found marginal associations between the risk of AML and CYP1A1 1188, and XRCC1 194, ERCC1 IVS5 + 33 and WRN 787 polymorphisms.

DNA methylation changes following 5-azacitidine treatment in patients with myelodysplastic syndrome.

DNA methyltransferase inhibitor, 5-azacitidine (AC) is effective in myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) and can induce re-expression in cancer. We analyzed the methylation of 25 tumor suppressor genes in AC-treated MDS. Hypermethylation of CDKN2B, FHIT, ESR1, and IGSF4 gene was detected in 9/44 patients.

Association between folate-metabolizing pathway polymorphism and non-Hodgkin lymphoma.

Polymorphisms in the genes coding folate-metabolizing enzymes affect the risk of some forms of cancer. We investigated the association between these polymorphisms and non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) risk in a population-based study (583 cases and 1700 controls). The MTHFR 677TT and CT genotypes were associated with reduced risk for NHL [odds ratios (OR) = 0.