Dr V Shanta (1927-2021): A pioneer in medical sciences, she blazed a path in combat towards most cancers

Some days in the past, Dr V Shanta was upset with a former pupil when the latter broke to her that she was stepping down from energetic follow after a protracted and illustrious profession as an oncologist. “She was really annoyed with me. She asked me how could I quit when at her age, she was still examining patients,”stated Dr P P Bapsy, former HoD of Medical Oncology at Kidwai Memorial Institute of Oncology, Bengaluru.
“It was only after I told her that I would continue to be engaged in supportive work for an NGO that works for women with cancer that she was no longer so annoyed,” added Dr Bapsy, who accomplished her doctorate in medical oncology underneath Shanta’s steering.
Early Tuesday, Dr Shanta, chairperson of The Cancer Institute at Adyar in Chennai, and doyen of oncology, who centered her experience over half a century in attempting to make most cancers care inexpensive within the nation, died of a coronary heart assault. She was 93.
Born in 1927 in a household of achievers — each her maternal uncle S Chandrasekhar and maternal grandfather C V Raman are Nobel laureates — Shanta graduated in drugs in 1949 from Madras Medical College, later specialising in Gynaecology and Obstetrics.
She joined Adyar Cancer Institute in 1955, a yr after it was based by Dr Muthulakshmi Reddy, one of many first ladies graduates of medication in India and a legislator. There, Shanta, together with Dr Reddy’s son Dr S Krishnamurthi, devoted their time and energies to engaged on most cancers care because the hospital and analysis centre grew from being a four-bed unit to at least one with over 400 beds and sufferers from everywhere in the nation. It is claimed that within the early years of the institute, Shanta and Krishnamurthi have been the one medical doctors on name. The institute additionally served to coach a number of oncologists at a time when most cancers care and analysis have been at an infancy within the nation.
As information of Dr Shanta’s demise got here in, tributes poured in from everywhere in the nation, from political leaders to her college students and fellow oncologists.
On Tuesday, Prime Minister Narenda Modi tweeted, “Dr V Shanta will be remembered for her outstanding efforts to ensure top quality cancer care. The Cancer Institute at Adyar, Chennai, is at the forefront of serving the poor and downtrodden. I recall my visit to the Institute in 2018. Saddened by Dr. V Shanta’s demise. Om Shanti.”
Dr C S Pramesh, Director, Tata Memorial Hospital, Mumbai, informed The Indian Express that he vividly recalled the time he spent with Dr Shanta a decade in the past when the 2 have been members of a committee arrange by the Centre to handle the issues of individuals residing in and across the Kudankulam nuclear plant in Tamil Nadu.
Marvelling on the vitality and dynamism that Dr Shanta possessed, regardless of being the oldest member within the committee, Dr Pramesh stated, “We had five to six meetings and had to do long hours of travel. But Dr Shanta did not mind travelling 100 km by road, touring the plant and understanding people’s concerns.”
“What she achieved over the last several decades is remarkable. Not only has she created one of the best cancer centres but also instilled the need to always keep the patient as priority for every doctor,” Dr Pramesh stated, including that her passing away was an enormous loss to the fraternity of oncologists and the affected person neighborhood within the nation.

He recalled his interplay with Dr Shanta in 2012, after they have been collectively concerned in establishing the National Cancer Grid, a community of main most cancers centres and analysis institutes throughout the nation.
“Not many thought it was worthwhile doing it, though it was an effort under the Government of India to create uniform standards of care. But she was one of the 17 individuals who worked on creating the grid and was a true champion of providing uniform standards of care, regardless of people’s ability to pay. This was a reflection of her philosophy that cancer care should not be dependent on whether the patient is rich or poor,” Dr Pramesh recalled.
Dr D Raghunadharao, founder director of Homi Bhabha Cancer Hospital & Research Centre, Visakhapatnam, stated, “She was a phenomenal teacher, apart from being extraordinarily good at starting specialties. Starting medical and paediatric oncology was an idea that she generated – in fact we in India adopted medical oncology much before the rest of the world adopted it as a specialty.”
Talking of Shanta’s abiding dedication to taking most cancers care to those that couldn’t afford it, Dr Raghunadharao stated, “It really did not make a difference to her whether the patient could pay for treatment. The institute looked after the needs of the patient and their families. A volunteer force has been working at the hospital and each volunteer is allotted a patient who gets lifetime care.”
Dr A Nanda Kumar, former head of the National Cancer Registry Programme, stated, “At Adyar, she developed one of the best follow-up systems for cancer patients. Even today, they take seven addresses of each patient to ensure successful follow-up of each patient, many of them from across the country.”
For her work, Dr Shantha was recognised with the Padma Vibhushan (2016), Padma Bhushan (2006), Padma Shri (1986), and the Magsaysay Award (2005).