Social determinants and equity across the gastric cancer continuum in Vietnam: a narrative review.

Gastric cancer remains a major cause of cancer mortality in Vietnam and illustrates how social conditions shape cancer trajectories. This narrative review synthesizes Vietnam-relevant evidence across infection, diet, tobacco and alcohol exposure, early detection, treatment, financial protection, survivorship, and palliative care. Helicobacter pylori acquisition is socially patterned by household and hygiene conditions; salt intake remains above recommended levels; and early gastric cancer represents about 4% of cases in available tertiary and multicenter studies. Broader Vietnamese health-system evidence suggests geographic concentration of specialist services and persistent out-of-pocket spending despite high insurance enrollment; these are contextual inferences rather than gastric-cancer-specific estimates. Cancer-wide studies from 2012 to 2014 document substantial financial catastrophe, but contemporary gastric-cancer-specific cost data are lacking. We propose an equity-oriented agenda combining representative surveillance, population prevention, quality-assured risk-stratified detection, regional care networks, patient navigation, and deeper financial protection, with routine socioeconomic, geographic, and patient-reported outcome monitoring.