NCCN and Viet Nam National Cancer Hospital Expand Collaboration to Enhance Cancer Care Guidelines

The National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) formalized an expanded partnership with the Viet Nam National Cancer Hospital, known as K Hospital, and The Vietnam Cancer Association on November 5, 2026. This agreement, signed during the Best of ASCO 2026 international conference in Hanoi, extends a longstanding effort to integrate evidence-based clinical practice guidelines into local oncology care. The event drew an audience of more than 400 attendees and over 70 international experts who witnessed the signing ceremony.

Expanding Guideline Adaptations

The collaboration focuses on creating NCCN Guidelines Adaptations for Vietnam, which modify standard oncology recommendations to better align with the country’s specific regulatory environments, population needs, and available resources. While previous efforts focused on other cancers, this new agreement expands the initiative to include two specific areas: lymphomas and thyroid cancer:

• B-Cell Lymphomas
• Hodgkin Lymphoma
• Thyroid Carcinoma

Crystal S. Denlinger, MD, CEO of NCCN, stated, We’re honored to be able to broaden the scope to now include the lymphomas, which are among the most common blood cancers, as well as thyroid cancer.

Clinical Implementation and Local Expertise

The adapted guidelines feature a color-coded system that distinguishes between generally available treatments and those considered more aspirational due to technical challenges or costs. These documents also provide effective substitutions when preferred standards of care are not feasible in a local clinical setting.

Prof. Le Van Quang, MD, PhD, Director of K Hospital, noted that the guidelines were reviewed by oncology experts from the Northern, Central, and Southern regions of Vietnam. The adapted guidelines take into account the resources and practice conditions in Vietnam and complement the national guidelines of the Ministry of Health, he said. The finalized recommendations are intended to support clinicians throughout the patient journey, from initial diagnosis to treatment.

Institutional Context

K Hospital serves as the nation’s leading cancer facility and functions as the highest-level referral center for oncology care under the Ministry of Health. The institution maintains a long history, originating in 1923 with the founding of the Indochina Radium Institute in Hanoi on the site of the current Quan Su campus, before being formally established as K Hospital in 1969. Today, the hospital manages three campuses in Hanoi with a total capacity of 2,400 beds. Working alongside the hospital, The Vietnam Cancer Association operates under a humanitarian mission to enhance the quality of life for patients and support national cancer control strategies.

The NCCN delegation at the conference included Dr. Denlinger alongside panel members Jaffer A. Ajani, MD, of The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center; Stacey A. Cohen, MD, of the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center; Meena S. Moran, MD, of the Yale Cancer Center/Smilow Cancer Hospital; and Sandy Srinivas, MD, of the Stanford Cancer Institute.