The Pioneer Who Brought Minimally Invasive Cancer Surgery to India: The Story of Dr. Ramakant Krishnaji Deshpande

From the towns of Karnataka to the operating theatres of Mumbai and New York, Dr. Ramakant Krishnaji Deshpande has spent more than four decades fighting cancer with both skill and innovation. A surgical oncologist of national stature, he is remembered especially as the pioneer of thoracoscopic surgery—minimally invasive keyhole techniques for chest cancers—at the Tata Memorial Hospital.

He graduated MBBS from Karnataka Medical College in Hubli and completed his MS in General Surgery at Tata Memorial Hospital in Mumbai. Further training took him to the world-renowned Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York. He also holds fellowships including FICS and FAIS, along with a Diploma in Hospital Administration.

His career began in 1982 at the Kidwai Memorial Institute of Oncology in Bangalore. Three years later he returned to Tata Memorial Hospital, where he served until 2002 as Chief of Thoracic Services. There he introduced and popularised thoracoscopic surgery for lung, oesophageal and mediastinal tumours, reducing the trauma of traditional open chest operations and speeding recovery for patients. He later became Executive Chairman of the Asian Institute of Oncology (associated with S.L. Raheja Hospital and later developments under the Asian Cancer Institute banner) and has also been associated with Lilavati Hospital and Sir H.N. Reliance Foundation Hospital in Mumbai. He helped establish robotic surgery facilities and has trained numerous young surgical oncologists.

In 2014 the Government of India conferred upon him the Padma Shri for his distinguished contributions to medicine. Over a long career he has performed thousands of complex cancer surgeries and remained a strong voice for early detection and awareness, reminding people that “cancer is not a death sentence; early detection and timely treatment save lives.”

One afternoon, after a successful thoracoscopic procedure, a young surgeon asked him, “Sir, why did you push so hard to bring these minimally invasive techniques to India when open surgery was the accepted standard?”

Dr. Ramakant Krishnaji Deshpande answered with the quiet clarity of a man who had seen both the suffering of major operations and the relief of gentler ones.

“Because every patient deserves the chance to recover with less pain and less time away from family,” he said. “Technology is useful only when it reaches the people who need it. If we can remove the tumour through small incisions and send the patient home sooner and stronger, then we have done our real work. The rest—awards, titles—is secondary.”

And so the surgical oncologist from Hubli who trained at Tata Memorial and Memorial Sloan Kettering, who pioneered thoracoscopic cancer surgery in India and built lasting institutions in Mumbai, continues to stand for a simple principle: that the best cancer care combines precise technique, continuous innovation and genuine compassion for the patient.