| Dr. B. Rajan, Director | | Dr. M. Krishnan Nair, Former Director | | Dr. Aleyamma Mathew, Associate Professor in Statistics and Epidemiology and Co-Principal Investigator |
| | The Regional Cancer Centre, (RCC) Trivandrum is an autonomous institution sponsored jointly by the Govt. of Kerala and the Govt. of India and was established in 1981 as one among the 6 such centres (currently 22) in India with the objective of providing comprehensive cancer treatment, community health services and to conduct advanced research in oncological sciences as well as basic sciences. The centre has been designated as a Science and Technology centre in the health sector by the Kerala government in 1985.
The vision, which the RCC had, envisaged from the beginning, was the setting up of a comprehensive cancer care facility to establish all major disciplines, related to oncology. From the core units of radiation oncology and cytopathology, new divisions, such as surgical oncology, medical oncology, paediatric oncology, imageology, nuclear medicine, radiation physics, community oncology, epidemiology, pain and palliative care, clinical and basic research were set up in record time. Emphasis was also given for early cancer detection centres through the outreach programmes of the division of community oncology. Both clinical and basic research activities are co-ordinated addressing the cancer problems of the State of Kerala. Hospital and population-based cancer registry activities are undertaken seriously. For the first time in the state oral morphine was made available to terminally ill cancer patients and the same is manufactured by the RCC with the help of the college of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Thiruvananthapuram.
RCC carried out a number of anti tobacco activities, early cancer detection and palliative care programmes extensively in the State of Kerala. Seven early cancer detection centres and one district cancer control programme were set up in Ernakulam, Kollam, Pathanamthitta, Palakkad, Kannur, Kozhikode, Wynad and Kasargod districts, the last 3 with UNFPA support. These early cancer detection centres have facilities for physical examination and cytology screening including fine needle aspiration cytology (FNAC) and services of a trained doctor, paramedical staff and laboratory staff. A number of epidemiologic and cancer control programmes are being carried out in collaboration with the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), Lyon, France. RCC was designated as a WHO collaborating centre in 1996 for a period of 4 years for cancer control in developing countries. RCC is collaborating with the WHO collaborating centre for pain relief and palliative care, Oxford.
RCC undertakes undergraduate and postgraduate training in some branches of oncology in collaboration with other acknowledged centres of academic and clinical excellence. Human resource development for all cancer control activities - medical, scientific and paramedical are undertaken by the centre. RCC helps the training of a number of WHO fellows from South East countries in national cancer control programme, cytology, cancer registration, palliative care and early cancer detection. The Government of India has designated RCC as Centre of Excellence in the field of cancer treatment, research and education.
Annually around 10,000 new cancer patients, more than 95,000 follow-up visits of old patients and more than 200,000 non-cancer patients for various investigations report to the centre. During the last five years, there has been 25% increase in the registration of both cancer and patients.
The Regional Cancer Centre, (RCC) Thiruvananthapuram also has a population based cancer registry covering part of Thiruvananthapuram District.
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