A Pioneer of Cancer Care in India: The Story of Dr. Sundaram Krishnamurthi

On 12 September 1919, in Madras, a boy named Sundaram Krishnamurthi was born into a family already shaping the future of Indian medicine and social reform. His mother, Dr. Muthulakshmi Reddy, was India’s first woman medical graduate, a freedom fighter, legislator and tireless social worker. His father, Dr. Sundara Reddy, was also a physician. From them the young Krishnamurthi inherited both scientific curiosity and a deep sense of public duty.

He completed his MBBS in 1942 and MS in 1946 from the University of Madras. In 1947 he travelled abroad for specialised training, working as a Fellow at the Ellis Fischel State Cancer Hospital in Missouri, USA, and later at the Royal Cancer Hospital in London. There he immersed himself completely in the then-emerging specialty of oncology—an interest first kindled by his mother’s lifelong concern for cancer patients.

Returning to India, he briefly worked in the cancer unit of the Government General Hospital in Madras. Frustrated by administrative obstacles, he soon joined the fledgling Cancer Institute (WIA) at Adyar that his mother had founded in 1954 as a modest four-bed unit. When she became too frail to continue, he stepped forward as her natural heir. From 1954 he served as Scientific Director, then as Director and Scientific Director from 1959 to 1980, and later as Vice-Chairman. Under his steady leadership the institute grew into a major 450-bed comprehensive cancer centre combining treatment, research, teaching and outreach for the poor.

He was among the first in India to advocate early detection as the key to curing cancer and pioneered multimodal therapy, including the use of radiation before surgery for large breast tumours—a paradigm shift at the time. He served on World Health Organization committees for nearly two decades and was appointed Honorary Surgeon to the President of India.

In recognition of his pioneering work the Government of India awarded him the Padma Shri in 1971. Colleagues and students remembered him as a man of vision, quiet determination and unwavering commitment to patients who could least afford care.

Dr. Sundaram Krishnamurthi passed away on 2 July 2010 at the age of ninety. The Cancer Institute at Adyar that he helped build remains one of India’s leading centres for oncology—a living testament to the son who carried forward his mother’s dream and devoted his entire professional life to the fight against cancer.