No one is ever prepared to hear the words "you have cancer." In a single moment, life changes. The questions come quickly: what type, what stage, which treatment, which hospital, which specialist. For international patients from Nigeria, Bangladesh, Kenya, the UAE, and South Asia navigating this moment, the choice of cancer centre carries weight that extends far beyond cost. It is a choice about the quality of the plan being built for your specific tumour, the technology available to deliver radiation with precision, and whether the team treating you sees the whole patient or only the tumour.
The Institute of Oncology at SIMS Hospital, Vadapalani, Chennai, is a National Cancer Grid-affiliated centre where medical, surgical, and radiation oncologists work in a multidisciplinary tumour board structure to deliver evidence-based, personalised cancer care.
This guide explains what radiation oncology at SIMS Hospital Chennai involves, which cancer types are treated, who the specialists are, and why international patients choose this centre.
The Institute of Oncology at SIMS Hospital: What Sets It Apart
The Institute of Oncology at SIMS Hospital is not a general oncology department. It is a National Cancer Grid-affiliated programme with specific institutional characteristics that directly affect the quality of cancer care delivered.
National Cancer Grid Affiliation
The National Cancer Grid (NCG) is India's network of cancer centres that standardises cancer treatment protocols based on the best available national and international evidence. NCG affiliation means the Institute of Oncology at SIMS Hospital follows nationally standardised, evidence-based cancer treatment protocols that are reviewed and updated by a consortium of India's leading cancer centres. This affiliation is a verifiable quality signal, not a marketing claim, and is particularly important for international patients who need to know that the treatment being recommended corresponds to the highest national standard rather than a locally developed protocol.
Multidisciplinary Tumour Board at Every Stage
Every cancer case at SIMS Hospital is reviewed by a multidisciplinary tumour board (MDT) that integrates medical oncology, surgical oncology, radiation oncology, radiology, and pathology. Complex cases are further reviewed by a dedicated Molecular Oncology Board that integrates genomic profiling, biomarker analysis, and targeted therapy guidance alongside the standard MDT discussion.
The MDT structure ensures that no single specialist makes an isolated treatment decision. The recommendation that reaches the patient has been reviewed by the full clinical team and reflects the integration of all relevant expertise. For patients with rare tumour types, complex presentations, or tumours requiring multidisciplinary coordination between surgery, radiation, and systemic therapy, this structure produces categorically better decisions than a single-specialist consultation.
Comprehensive Cancer Care Under One Roof
The Institute provides surgical oncology, medical oncology, and radiation oncology as integrated services. Advanced robotic cancer surgery, chemotherapy and targeted therapy infusion, radiation therapy, and supportive palliative care are all delivered within the same institutional programme by teams that communicate daily through the tumour board process.
The Radiation Oncology Programme at SIMS Hospital Chennai
Radiation oncology at SIMS Hospital Chennai is one of three pillars of the Institute's cancer programme and operates in close coordination with the surgical and medical oncology teams. Radiation therapy is used as primary treatment for certain cancers, as adjuvant treatment following surgery to reduce recurrence risk, as concurrent treatment alongside chemotherapy (chemoradiotherapy), and as palliative treatment to control symptoms from advanced disease.
The Radiation Oncology Specialists
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Dr. Sumana Premkumar: Senior Consultant, Radiation Oncology Dr. Sumana Premkumar holds MBBS and MD in Oncology qualifications and serves as Senior Consultant in Radiation Oncology at SIMS Hospital. Her practice covers the full range of radiation oncology indications across cancer types, within the multidisciplinary framework of the Institute of Oncology.
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Dr. Prasanna Kumar K S: Senior Consultant, Radiation Oncology Dr. Prasanna Kumar K S holds MBBS and DNB in Radiotherapy and serves as Senior Consultant in Radiation Oncology. His practice covers radiotherapy planning and delivery across the major cancer type categories treated at the Institute, with specific integration into the tumour board process for treatment sequence planning.
Together, the two senior radiation oncology consultants provide the depth required for a high-volume oncology programme where radiation therapy decisions must be made promptly and precisely within the context of the full multidisciplinary treatment plan.
What Modern Radiation Oncology at SIMS Involves
Radiation oncology at SIMS Hospital Chennai uses image-guided and planned delivery techniques that have substantially improved treatment precision over conventional radiation. Key aspects of the programme include:
- Multidisciplinary treatment planning: Radiation planning does not begin with the radiation oncologist alone. It begins with the tumour board confirming the role of radiation in the specific treatment sequence for the specific tumour. This ensures that radiation volumes, doses, and timing are designed around the surgical and systemic therapy plan rather than planned in isolation.
- Imaging-guided radiation planning: Radiation planning uses CT simulation combined with MRI and PET data for tumour volume delineation. Accurate target volume delineation is the foundation of effective radiation delivery, and the quality of this step directly determines the accuracy of the entire radiation course.
- Intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT): IMRT shapes the radiation dose around the tumour with multiple modulated beams, reducing the dose to surrounding normal tissues while maintaining or increasing the dose to the tumour target. This is the standard for head and neck cancers, prostate cancer, gynaecological cancers, and other sites where critical normal structures must be spared.
- Stereotactic Radiosurgery (SRS) and SBRT: High-dose, highly precise radiation delivered in one to five sessions for brain metastases (SRS), early-stage lung cancer (SBRT), and selected spine and liver metastases.
- Palliative radiation: For patients with advanced cancer, palliative radiation controls pain from bone metastases, prevents pathological fractures, relieves superior vena cava obstruction, and addresses neurological compromise from spinal or brain metastases.
Cancer Types Treated With Radiation Oncology at SIMS Hospital Chennai
At SIMS Hospital Chennai, radiation therapy is delivered through disease-specific protocols tailored to target tumor tissue while sparing surrounding vital structures. By integrating advanced radiation techniques with medical and surgical oncology teams, each patient receives coordinated, evidence-based care from diagnosis through treatment completion.
Here are the primary cancer types managed by the radiation oncology team:
Head and Neck Cancers
Head and neck cancers, including squamous cell carcinoma of the oral cavity, oropharynx, hypopharynx, larynx, and nasopharynx, are among the most frequently treated cancer types with radiation at dedicated oncology centres in India. Concurrent chemoradiotherapy with cisplatin is the standard of care for locally advanced head and neck squamous cell carcinoma and is a definitive non-surgical treatment for selected oropharyngeal and laryngeal sites. Dr. P. Lakshmi Narasimman (Senior Consultant, visiting), who holds MBBS, MS (ENT) Otolaryngology and Head and Neck Surgery, and MCh in Surgical Oncology (Head and Neck Surgery), provides the surgical oncology counterpart for the head and neck radiation programme, ensuring integrated planning between surgical resection and adjuvant radiation.
Breast Cancer
Radiation therapy after breast-conserving surgery reduces local recurrence by approximately two-thirds and remains one of the most evidence-supported applications of adjuvant radiation in oncology. Post-mastectomy radiation is indicated in patients with positive lymph nodes or large tumours. Partial breast irradiation using accelerated techniques is available for selected early-stage patients. For guidance on hormone therapy advances used alongside and following radiation in breast cancer management, radiation oncology at SIMS integrates with the medical oncology programme: Latest Advances in Hormone Therapy for Breast Cancer After Surgery
Brain Tumours and Brain Metastases
Radiation plays a central role in brain tumour management. For glioblastoma, the Stupp protocol uses concurrent temozolomide chemoradiotherapy followed by adjuvant chemotherapy as the standard post-surgical approach. For lower-grade gliomas, radiation timing is guided by risk stratification. For brain metastases from systemic cancers, SRS is the preferred approach for up to four metastases, with whole-brain radiotherapy reserved for specific indications. The Institute of Oncology works in close coordination with the Institute of Neurosciences at SIMS Hospital, whose Director Dr. K. R. Suresh Bapu and his team provide the neurosurgical component for brain tumour cases. For more on complex brain tumour surgery at SIMS, read: How Dr. K. R. Suresh Bapu Approaches Complex Brain Tumor Treatment Cases
Lung Cancer
Lung cancer radiation encompasses stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT) for early-stage non-small cell lung cancer in patients who cannot undergo surgery, concurrent chemoradiotherapy for locally advanced stage III NSCLC, and palliative radiation for symptomatic metastatic disease. Proton therapy for lung cancer is under increasing investigation for dosimetric advantages in reducing cardiac and pulmonary toxicity, though IMRT at SIMS provides excellent dose conformality with conventional photon techniques.
Gastrointestinal Cancers
Radiation is used in rectal cancer (neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy before surgery to improve resection rates and local recurrence), oesophageal cancer (definitive chemoradiotherapy or preoperative radiation), and pancreatic cancer (stereotactic body radiotherapy for borderline resectable cases). The surgical oncology team, led by Director Dr. Saravanan Periasamy (MBBS, DNB General Surgery, MRCS Edinburgh, MCh Surgical Oncology) coordinates the pre- and post-radiation surgical component for gastrointestinal cancer cases.
Gynaecological Cancers
Cervical cancer, the most common gynaecological cancer in India, is treated with concurrent chemoradiotherapy as definitive treatment for locally advanced disease. External beam radiation followed by brachytherapy (intracavitary radiation) is the global standard for cervical cancer and is an integral component of the radiation oncology programme. Endometrial cancer adjuvant radiation after surgery, ovarian cancer consolidation radiation, and vaginal cancer definitive radiation are also treated within the gynaecological oncology component of the programme.
Prostate Cancer
Prostate cancer radiation encompasses external beam radiotherapy (IMRT or VMAT) with or without androgen deprivation therapy for localised and locally advanced disease, and stereotactic body radiotherapy as an ultra-hypofractionated five-fraction approach for selected patients.
The Full Oncology Team at SIMS Hospital
Beyond the radiation oncology specialists, the Institute's multidisciplinary programme includes:
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Dr. Saravanan Periasamy: Director and Senior Consultant, Surgical Oncology. MBBS, DNB General Surgery, MRCS Edinburgh, MCh Surgical Oncology. Leads the robotic cancer surgery programme.
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Dr. V. M. Durai Mavalavan: Senior Consultant, Medical Oncology. MBBS, MD General Medicine, DM Medical Oncology. Coordinates chemotherapy, targeted therapy, and immunotherapy protocols.
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Dr. Anand Praveen Kumar A: Associate Consultant, Medical Oncology. MBBS, MD Radiation Oncology, DM Medical Oncology, ECMO European Certification in Medical Oncology (ESMO), Advanced Management of Oncological Diseases (Harvard Medical School, USA). His ESMO certification and Harvard advanced management training reflect an international-level engagement with the current evidence base in medical oncology.
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Dr. Dhanalakshmi M: Consultant, Surgical Oncology. MBBS, MS General Surgery, Fellowship in Surgical Oncology from Tata Medical Centre, Kolkata. Tata Medical Centre is one of India's most respected cancer surgery training centres.
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Dr. Syed Afroze Hussain: Senior Consultant, Surgical Oncology (visiting). MBBS, MS, MCh Surgical Oncology, FEBS (Fellow of the European Board of Surgery).
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Dr. P. Lakshmi Narasimman: Senior Consultant, Head and Neck Surgical Oncology (visiting). MCh Surgical Oncology, Head and Neck Surgery.
Cost of Radiation Oncology at SIMS Hospital Chennai for International Patients
Cancer treatment cost in India represents savings of 60 to 80 percent versus Western equivalents. Radiation therapy in India costs approximately:
| Treatment | India cost (approximate) | USA / UK equivalent (approximate ) |
|---|---|---|
| Radiation oncology consultation | Rs. 1,500 to Rs. 3,000 (USD 18 to USD 36) | USD 300 to USD 600 |
| CT simulation and planning | Rs. 8,000 to Rs. 15,000 (USD 96 to USD 180) | USD 1,000 to USD 3,000 |
| IMRT full course (30 to 35 fractions) | Rs. 1,50,000 to Rs. 3,00,000 (USD 1,800 to USD 3,600) | USD 30,000 to USD 80,000 |
| SBRT (5 fractions, lung or prostate) | Rs. 1,00,000 to Rs. 2,00,000 (USD 1,200 to USD 2,400) | USD 20,000 to USD 50,000 |
| SRS for brain metastases (single session) | Rs. 1,50,000 to Rs. 2,50,000 (USD 1,800 to USD 3,000) | USD 10,000 to USD 30,000 |
How Karetrip Connects International Cancer Patients to SIMS Hospital Chennai
Karetrip reviews each patient's pathology reports, staging scans, and prior treatment history before recommending the Institute of Oncology at SIMS Hospital, confirming that the proposed treatment plan will be reviewed by the full multidisciplinary tumour board and that the specific radiation oncology capability needed for the tumour type is available.
From pre-travel imaging and pathology review through medical visa coordination, accommodation near SIMS Hospital in Vadapalani, Chennai, and post-treatment discharge documentation for continuation of care at home, Karetrip manages the complete international patient journey for radiation oncology at SIMS Hospital Chennai.
Chat with our Medical care assistant, RUA, for quick guidance and support and take the first step toward expert, multidisciplinary cancer care at the Institute of Oncology at SIMS Hospital Chennai.
Medical Disclaimer
The information provided in this blog is intended for general educational and informational purposes only and should not be considered a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. You understand that you should always consult your physician or other qualified healthcare provider to determine the appropriateness of this information for your own situation. If you think that you may have a medical emergency, call your doctor immediately.