BRIEF HISTORY & MILESTONES
 
The Institute was founded in 1954 by Dr. (Mrs.) S. Muthulakshmi Reddy, the first woman in India to graduate in medicine. She was awarded the Padma Bhushan in 1956 in recognition of her services to the nation.

Right from the very inception it has been a fundamental article of faith to provide the finest in diagnostic and therapeautic oncology to the poorest in the land. Consistently over the years, the Institute has sought and obtained support from all over the world to setup world class facilities.
 
MILESTONES

The Cancer Institute-WIA was the first comprehensive cancer center in South India and the second one in the country.
The Institute was the first center to install a Cobalt 60 Teletherapy unit in Asia in 1956. This ushered in the Super Voltage Therapy era in Asia.
The Institute was the first center in India to establish a department of Nuclear Medical Oncology in 1956, 6 years before the DAE established its Isotope Division.
The first indigenous therapy simulator was designed by us in 1965 and fabricated by the I.G.E. and installed in 1968.
Pediatric Oncology as a speciality was introduced by us in the country in 1960.
The Institute introduced the technique of Lymphangiography in the diagnosis of lymphoid tumours in 1960 and the technique of Mammography in the diagnosis of occult breast tumours in 1965 for the first time in India.
The Institute is a world pioneer in the combination therapies of oral cancer with radiation, surgery, chemical sensitisers and cytotoxic drugs, raising the cure rate from 19% to 60%
The first Linear Accelerator in India was installed at the Institute in 1976.The Institute introduced for the first time in the country, Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy in the treatment of Cancer in 1978, and is at present the only place where this facility is available.
Blood Component Therapy using the blood cell separator, in the supportive treatment of high dose Chemotherapy, was introduced into India by us for the first time in 1978.
The Institute established the first PEPA programme in the country in the Chemotherapy of cancer.
We were the first to institute Post Graduate courses leading to M.Ch in Surgical Oncology, D.M. in Medical Oncology and M.Sc., in Physics as applied to Medicine.
We were the first and at present the only center in India to introduce Hyperthermia in the treatment of Cancer (1984)
The first ND-YAG Surgical LASER in the country was installed at the Institute in 1985 and we were the first to perform Endoscopic LASER Surgery.
The first (1992) and at present the only center in the country where Intra-Operative Electron Therapy in the treatment of cancer is available.
A fully indigenous Brachytherapy unit for intracavitary treatment of cancer designed and fabricated. (1995)
The first Comprehensive Hereditary cancer detection and prevention programme in the country was started in 2002.