S. Krishnamurthi, adviser (Research and Planning), Cancer Institute (WIA), Adyar, died here on Friday. He was 90.
A doyen of oncology in the country, Dr. Krishnamurthi was born in 1919 to Sundara Reddy and Muthulakshmi Reddy, India's first woman medical graduate. He passed MBBS in 1942 and M.S. in 1946. In 1947, he went abroad to work as a Fellow of the Ellis Fischel State Cancer Hospital, Missouri, U.S., and later, at the Royal Cancer Hospital, London. Right through, he immersed himself in oncology, an interest that was to dictate the rest of his life.
On returning to India, Dr. Krishnamurthi took charge as head of the Cancer Unit, Government General Hospital here. His close associate and collaborator of many years, V. Shanta, Director, Cancer Institute, recalled in an interview to Frontline in August 2005, how Dr. Krishnamurthi tried to kill corruption that was rampant in the hospital at that time.
It is said that his interest in the causes and treatment of cancer was kindled by his mother. Muthulakshmi Reddy started the Adyar Cancer Institute as a four-bed unit in 1954, and Dr. Krishnamurthy became her natural heir there. He took over as Director in 1959 and the Institute has grown to 450 beds now. He and Dr. Shanta were the only doctors on call at the Institute in the initial years when treatment of cancer in India was in its infancy.
For Dr. Krishnamurthi, working to eradicate cancer was his life's purpose and he devoted all his time and energy to this mission. He advocated the idea that it was important to detect cancer in the initial stages in order to be able to cure it.
In 1970, the government recognised his pioneering efforts towards understanding and treatment of cancer and awarded him the Padma Shri. From 1965, he was on one or more committees of the World Health Organisation up until 1982. In 1983, he became a member of the Advisory Committee on Cancer Control and Planning of the Central government. He was also a much sought-after expert in his field.
“Great guide”
S. Ganapathy Ramanan, an oncologist with the Cancer Research and Relief Trust, recollects fondly his interaction with Dr. Krishnamurthi right at the beginning of his career. “He was a man of great vision, ideas and a great guide for people like us. In fact he was the first in the 1960s to treat the patient with radiation before surgery in breast cancer. This marked a paradigm shift in the treatment of large tumours.” Dr. Krishnamurthi, he said, would insist that if the patient had no one else to take care of him, his doctor must do so.
A.V. Lakshmanan, Adviser 2, Cancer Institute, said: “The services rendered by Dr. S. Krishnamurthi were indeed outstanding.”
The funeral will be held on Monday. He is survived by a son and a daughter.
