Milestones

1981

The RCC, Thiruvananthapuram is established as an autonomous scientific institution sponsored jointly by the Government of Kerala and the Government of India as per Government of India letter No. T. 200125/79 of October 1980.

• The Centre was registered under Travancore Cochin Literary Scientific and Charitable Societies Registration Act 1955 vide No. 567/81 dated 19.08.1981.

1982 - 83

• The first standalone Paediatric Oncology Division in the Country was established (1982).

1984 - 85

• The foundation stone of RCC’s first phase building was laid by Shri. K. Karunakaran, Hon'ble Chief Minister of Kerala (11.09.1984).
• The first Community Oncology Division in the Country was launched (1985).

1985 - 86

• RCC was designated as a Science and Technology Centre in the health sector by State Government as per G. O. (Rt) No. 1521/85/11 H & FWD dated 18.11.1985.
• Early Cancer Detection Centres were established at Ernakulam (15.08.1985) and Palakkad (02.10.1985).

1986 - 87

• The first organized cancer pain clinic in the country was started (1986).
• The 'Cancer Care for Life' (CCL) scheme for providing the most modern cancer care to the public on payment of a nominal sum of Rs.101/- once in their lifetime was initiated (26.06.1986).

1987 - 88

• Village level Comprehensive Cancer Control Programme was launched.

1988 - 89

• RCC evolved a Ten-year Action Plan for cancer control in Kerala (1988).
• Formation of State Cancer Control Advisory Board for Kerala (1988).
• RCC received formal approval from the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) as a Centre for testing local remedies in cancer treatment.

1989 - 90

Inauguration of the first phase building of RCC by Shri. E.K. Nayanar, Hon'ble Chief Minister of Kerala (17.08.1989).

1990 - 91

• Inauguration of CT Scanner by Shri. E.K. Nayanar, Hon'ble Chief Minister of Kerala (10.08.1990).
• The foundation stone of Second Phase building of RCC was laid by Shri. E.K. Nayanar, Hon'ble Chief Minister of Kerala (14.11.1990).
• State Government declared RCC as a Centre of Excellence in the field of Science & Technology (1990).
• Inauguration of Natural Background Radiation Registry, Karunagappally by Dr. P.K. Iyengar, Chairman, Atomic Energy Commission (09.02.1991).

1991 - 92

• The foundation stone of the Radiotherapy Block was laid by Shri. K. Karunakaran, Hon'ble Chief Minister of Kerala (16.07.1991).
• District level cancer control programme for Ernakulam district was launched(1992).

1992 - 93

Pain Control Networking was established.

1993 - 94

• Inauguration of Radiotherapy Block by Shri. K. Karunakaran, Hon'ble Chief Minister of Kerala (25.01.1994).
• Introduction of Radioiodine therapy.
• District level Cancer Control networking in Kottayam and Pathanamthitta Districts.
• Establishment of Early Cancer Detection Centre at Karunagappally, Kollam District.

1994 - 95

Establishment of Early Cancer Detection Centre at Kannur District.

1995 - 96

• World Health Organization designated RCC as a WHO Collaborating Centre for cancer control for developing countries (1995). This has enabled RCC to pretest, formulate and implement cancer control models developed in RCC in other regions of the world.
• Dedication of the second phase by Shri. E.K. Nayanar, Hon'ble Chief Minister of Kerala (08.11.1996).

1997 - 98

Establishment of a modern endoscopy unit (1998).

1998 - 99

Inauguration of a Palliative Care Centre by Shri. Suresh Gopi, Malayalam Cine Artist (24.11.1998).

1999 - 2000

• Established District Cancer Care Centre, Kozhencherry, Pathanamthitta District.
• An International School of Colposcopy was established with support from IARC and Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

2000 - 01

• 20th year of existence.
• Declared RCC as Centre of Excellence by Government of India.
• Launched a telemedicine network connecting peripheral centres of Ernakulam and Palakkad (2000).
• Prof. M. Krishnan Nair, Director, was awarded the 'Padma Shri' (26.01.200

2002 - 03

A Telemedicine Network, Onconet - connecting peripheral centres including Kochi, Palakkad, Karunagappally, and Kannur was established (2003).

2003 - 04

• A Telemedicine Network, Onconet - connecting peripheral centres including Kochi, Palakkad, Karunagappally, and Kannur was established (2003).

2005 - 06

• Silver Jubilee year
• 10,310 new cases and 1, 18,131 reviewed cases.
• National Board of Examinations (NBE) accredited Diplomate of the National Board (DNB) programmes in Radiotherapy, Pathology, Radio diagnosis, Anaesthesia, Medical Oncology and Surgical Oncology started.

2007 - 08

• RCC became the first cancer centre to manufacture morphine capsules (May 2007).
• Inauguration of Bone Marrow Transplant Unit by Smt. P.K. Sreemathi Teacher, Hon'ble Minister for Health (06.10.2007).
• Commissioning of 1.5 T MRI scanner by Dr. Anbumani Ramadoss, Hon’ble Union Minister for Health and Family Welfare (24.11.2007).

2009 - 10

Foundation stone of Nine storey building was laid by Shri. V.S. Achuthanandan, Hon'ble Chief Minister of Kerala (02.03.2010).

2010 - 11

• 30th year of service.
• Started MCI-approved MCh programme in Surgical Oncology and DM programme in Medical Oncology.
• Started state-of-the-art Radiotherapy (Image-guided Radiotherapy-IGRT) and Brachytherapy (Image-guided Brachytherapy) services.

2011 - 12

• Introduced Rapid Arc, Stereotactic Radiotherapy (SRT), and Stereotactic Radio Surgery (SRS).
• Introduced Limb Salvage surgeries for bone sarcomas.

2012 - 13

• Commissioning of Picture Archiving and Communication System (PACS) by Shri. Oommenchandy, Hon'ble Chief Minister of Kerala (10.07.2012).
• Commissioning of a four bedded state-of-the-art ICU with two ventilators at Paediatric Oncology division by Shri. Shashi Tharoor, Hon’ble Union Minister for State for Human Resource Development (28.03.2013).
• 24 hour pharmacy and chemotherapy services
• Started MCI approved DM programme in Paediatric Oncology, MD programmes in Radiotherapy, Radiodiagnosis, and Anaesthesiology.
• The entire RCC campus made Wi-Fi enabled and introduced Radio Frequency Identification technology (RFID) in the library.

2013 - 14

Started MCI-approved MD programme in Pathology

2014 - 15

• Upgradation of RCC as ‘State Cancer Institute’ and declaration of NABH accreditation status by Shri. Harsh Vardhan, Hon’ble Union Minister for Health and Family Welfare (19.09.2014).
• RCC became the first Government owned cancer treatment institution in the country to win the coveted NABH accreditation.
• Commissioning of Dual Energy Linear Accelerator by Shri. Oommenchandy, Hon'ble Chief Minister of Kerala and 4D-CT Simulator by Shri. V.S. Sivakumar, Hon'ble Minister for Health and Devaswoms (19.09.2014).

2015 - 16

• Inauguration of new OP Block by Shri. Oommenchandy, Hon'ble Chief Minister of Kerala (10.02.2016).
• Commissioning of PET-CT scanner by Shri. Oommenchandy, Hon'ble Chief Minister of Kerala and Anaesthesia Simulation Lab (10.02.2016).

2016 - 17

• Implementation of Multi-Disciplinary Tumour Board (MDTB) system (January 2017).
• Inaugurated new building for ECDC, Palakkad (17.02.2017).
• Inauguration of the ‘Infosys Chair’ instituted by Infosys Foundation for academic pursuits by Shri. Pinarayi Vijayan, Hon’ble Chief Minister of Kerala (22.02.2017).

2018 - 19

• Foundation stone of 14 storey building laid by Shri. Pinarayi Vijayan, Hon’ble Chief Minister of Kerala (26.12.2018).

2019 - 20

• Started MCI approved MCh programmes in Head and Neck Surgery and Gynaecologic Oncology.

2020 - 21

• 40th year of service.
• Commissioning of Linear accelerator-Vital Beam by Smt. K.K. Shailaja Teacher, Hon’ble Minister for Health and Social Justice (18.08.2020).
• Commissioning of state-of-the-art Casualty services by Shri. Pinarayi Vijayan, Hon’ble Chief Minister of Kerala (19.09.2020).
• Taken over 11.68 acres of land at Pulayanarkotta from the Government (27.01.2021).
• Commissioning of Linear accelerator-True Beam and Dual energy CT scanner by Shri. Pinarayi Vijayan, Hon’ble Chief Minister of Kerala (24.02.2021).
• Inaugurated the second campus at Pulayanarkotta by Shri. Pinarayi Vijayan, Hon’ble Chief Minister of Kerala (24.02.2021).

2021 - 22

• naugurated Preventive Oncology OP and Training Centre at the second campus by Smt. Veena George, Hon’ble Minister for Health and Family Welfare (04.02.2022).
• Started paediatric autologous stem cell transplantation (March 2022).

2022 - 23

• Acquired Gallium-68 generator, started Gallium scan and radionuclide therapy for neuroendocrine tumour and prostate cancer (2022).
• Devised ‘Cerviscan’ in collaboration with C-DAC for early detection of cervical cancer (2022).
• Acquired Uro-brachytherapy unit and started radiation for uro-oncology cancers including prostate cancer (2023).
• Acquired Ring Gantry (Halcyon) Linear Accelerator worth Rs.20 crore using the CSR fund from Power Grid Corporation of India Ltd. (2023)

2023 - 24

• Commissioned 3-Tesla MRI Machine and 3D Digital Mammography (2023).
• Inauguration of Robotic Surgery Unit, Patient Welfare & Service Block, HIPEC Treatment & Clinical Laboratory Tracking system by Shri.Pinarayi Vijayan, Hon'ble Chief Minister (15.01.2024).