HANOI, Oct. 7 (Xinhua) — Around 200 Vietnamese people are killed by cancer each day and over 70,000 deaths are caused by cancer each year in Vietnam.

The statistics were released at an ongoing national seminar on prevention and combating cancer held in Vietnam's capital Hanoi.

The two-day seminar drew participation of over 1,000 cancer-specialized doctors, experts, and policy-makers.

According to Tran Van Thuan, director of Vietnam's leading K Hospital, over 70 percent of cancer patients in Vietnam go to hospital at late stages, causing serious impact on the rate of successful treatment.

"In the world, some 80 percent of cancer patients are considered 'cured' of the disease if they live for at least five years more since detecting. In Vietnam, the rate stands low at 33 percent among male patients and 40 percent among female," said Thuan.

According to French experts at the seminar, by 2020, Vietnam will have some 189,000 cancer cases each year, nearly three times higher than that of 70,000 cases in 2010.

It is estimated that Vietnam now ranks 78th among 172 countries and regions worldwide in the list of newly-detected cancer cases, reported local Tuoi Tre (Youth) online newspaper on Friday.