History of Cancer Care Kerala
History of Cancer Care in Kerala Dr. Babu Mathew, Dr.Boben Thomas, DrTK Padmanabhan ,Dr Chandramohan K, RCC Trivandrum The history of Modern Cancer Care in Kerala dates back to nineteenth century. Surgery is the oldest subspeciality of cancer , the other branches which followed surgery were radiation and medical oncology. Cancer Surgery Missionary Surgeons from UK and a few West European countries came to the Southern part of India along with members of the various East India Companies from the beginning of the 17th century. Though the main aim was to spread religion, some of the missionary surgeons offered their professional skills to treat the local population. The treatment was given in Private hospitals known as Mission Hospitals. A mission hospital was started in Neyyoor, a few kilometers from Nagarkoil in 1838 by London Mission Society (LMS). By the turn of the 20th century, this hospital developed into ...