Over the past 44 years, the Regional Cancer Centre, Thiruvananthapuram has  contributed significantly to the increasing cancer care needs of the state of Kerala and  adjoining areas of Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and including the island country the Maldives,  providing state-of-the–art diagnostic and treatment facilities at affordable cost. Till 2024-25, the Centre registered 4,50,077 new cases and provided services on 54,99,434 patient  visits. In addition, RCC has been committed to cancer control activities among the public,  human resource development in various specialties of oncology and in conducting basic,  clinical and translational cancer research.  

As a premier Regional Cancer Centre in the country, RCC, Thiruvananthapuram has  several achievements to its credit. Selected milestones of remarkable significance in  Kerala’s cancer control arena are given below 

One of the first comprehensive cancer centres in the country 

• First exclusive Paediatric Oncology Division (1982) 
• India’s first Community Oncology Division (1985) 
• The ‘Cancer Care for Life’ scheme – onetime payment insurance policy (1986)
• 10 year Action plan for cancer control in Kerala (1988) 
• First cancer registry in Kerala- Natural background Radiation Registry at  Karunagapally (1990) 
• First organized cancer pain clinic in the country (1998) 
• International School of Colposcopy with the support from IARC and Bill and Melinda  Gates Foundation (2000) 
• Commissioning of Precise High Energy Linear Accelerator (2003).
• First Cancer Centre to manufacture oral morphine solution and capsules (2006)
• National Board of Examinations (NBE) accredited Diplomate of the National Board  (DNB) programmes in Radiotherapy, Pathology, Radiodiagnosis, Anaesthesia,  Medical Oncology, and Surgical Oncology were started (2006). 
• First Bone Marrow Transplant Unit in a government setup in India (2007)
• The Kerala State Pollution Control Board selected RCC for pollution control award under Government hospitals with more than 200 beds category (2010).
• First PET-CT scanner installation in public health care sector in the State (2016)
• Multi-Disciplinary Tumour Board (MDTB) system was implemented to ease the  diagnosis, staging, treatment, and follow-ups. [2017] 
• 'Infosys Chair’ by Infosys Foundation was set up towards promotion of research and advanced training for academic pursuits (2017). 
• Started MCI approved MCh programmes in Head and Neck Surgery and  Gynaecologic Oncology (2019). 
• Commissioned state-of-the-art High Energy Linear Accelerators and Dual Energy CT  scanner (2021). 
• Devised ‘Cerviscan’ in collaboration with C-DAC for early detection of cervical cancer (2022). 
• Paediatric autologous stem cell transplantation was started (2022).
• First Robotic Surgery Unit in the public health care sector in the State (2024)
• First Cath Lab in a Government Oncology Centre in the State (2025)