Cancer is potentially curable if diagnosed and treated in early stages. Even in late stages where cure may not be possible patient can be treated to have meaningful life with disease. Correct diagnosis and management is of paramount importance.

The Centre for Cancer brings together the expertise within the hospital to provide comprehensive and coordinated care for patients with all types of cancers, including solid tumours and blood related diseases. We offer broad scope of cancer services, ranging from public education, screening and diagnosis, to treatment, pain management and palliative care.

The range of care provided is organized into a number of patient-centered clinics including:

Radiation treatment or radiotherapy is the use of precisely calculated doses of high energy X-rays to treat parts of the body where there is cancer. It is generally a pain-free treatment and external radiation therapy does not cause you to be radioactive.

A course of radiation treatment can involve a single or multiple sessions depending on the doctor's prescription. At The Centre for Cancer Care, most patients receive their 15 to 30 minutes treatment sessions as an outpatient - so they are able to resume their daily routines, as normally as possible. This clinic is supported by the most advanced radiation machines in the country. The IGRT machine (TRILOGY) combines the highest quality linear accelerator for treatment with diagnostic quality CT scanner within the treatment room. The Novalis Tx is optimized for the fastest and most accurate stereotactic treatment for cranial and extra-cranial tumours. These machines are designed to deliver precise radiation to the tumour without harming the surrounding healthy tissue. The Radiation Oncology service has a team of highly trained radiation oncologist and physicist.

Chemotherapy is the use of drugs to destroy rapidly growing cancer cells. Some kinds of chemotherapy may slow the growth of cancer cells, and keep them from spreading to other parts of the body. It may be used with radiation to help shrink the tumor before surgery. It may also be used after surgery or radiation to destroy remnant cancer cells. At the centre, chemotherapy is given as an outpatient procedure at our specialised treatment areas, managed by a team of oncology trained nurses who provide close monitoring.

Surgery plays a pivotal role in management of most solid cancer. While surgery alone is adequate for early cancers, most advanced tumours require multi modality treatment. The department of Surgical Oncology has dedicated surgical specialists, formerly at the Tata Memorial Hospital, for management of cancers of the head neck, breast, thorax, gastro-intestinal tract, female reproductive system and genitor urinary tract. These team of specialists are complemented by reconstructive surgeon (for complex reconstruction including micro-vascular free flaps after ablative surgery for oral and other cancer), radiologists for accurate imaging with latest machines, nuclear medicine specialist for PET-CT and nuclear scans onco-pathologist for tissue diagnosis and staging, intensivists, other medical and rehabilitation specialist of the hospital. The head and neck team has surgeons with vast experience in complex surgical procedures including cranio-facial surgery, conservative laryngeal surgery, and voice rehabilitation procedures after laryngectomy. For diseases of breast we have a dedicated surgeon who specializes in conservative breast surgery, oncoplastic surgery and breast reconstructive surgery. The thoracic and uro-oncosurgeons have vast experience in complex surgical procedures and have performed large number of minimal invasive procedures for management of tumours of oesopahgus, lung, kidney, bladder and prostate. Cancers of female reproductive system are managed by a dedicated gynec-onco surgeon.

Blood or bone marrow transplant (BMT) is an established, important therapy for malignant as well as non-malignant disorders of the bone marrow. BMT is performed for patients with acute leukemias, multiple myeloma, lumphomas and others.