On his birthday, 14th November 1943, Pt. Jawahar Lal Nehru announced the establishment of a Cancer Wing in the hospital, similar to TATA Memorial Hospital, Bombay.
• The Begum Abdul Kalam Azad Memorial Wing was inaugurated by Shri R. Rajagopalachari, the Governor-General of India, in 1949.
• The year 1949 marked the beginning of cancer treatment at the hospital with the installation of the Maximar Deep X-Ray therapy unit for cancer therapy.
• In 1956, the Government of Uttar Pradesh released a grant towards the construction of buildings and a separate matching grant for the purchase of radium source, equipment, etc., for the Cancer Wing.
• The Cancer Wing of the hospital was formally inaugurated by the Vice President of India, Dr. S. Radhakrishnan, on April 8, 1959, with three Deep X-Ray units, one Cobalt Unit, and 200mg Radium for Brachytherapy. This made KNMH the third center in the country for comprehensive cancer treatment in the early fifties, the other two being TATA Memorial Hospital, Mumbai, and Chittaranjan National Cancer Hospital, Kolkata.
• A modernization program of the Cancer Wing was initiated in 1983.
Salient Features of the Development in the 80s Included:
1. Installation of the Stationary Head Janus Cobalt Unit in 1984.
2. Commissioning of Rotational Head Isocentric Teletherapy Unit, Theratron 780 C.
3. Selectron LDR (Remote Control Afterloading) with Cesium 137 Source.
• In 1993, the Department of Atomic Energy co-opted this hospital as a Center for Research in Radiation Oncology, Medical Physics, and Nuclear Medicine.
• On the strength of services rendered by the hospital, the Government of India recognized KNMH as a Regional Cancer Center. The hospital has Post Graduate Teaching facilities recognized by the National Board of Examinations for Diplomas and Degrees (DNB) in Radiation Oncology and Obstetrics & Gynaecology.
• Modernization efforts started in 2012 by introducing Quality Controls, which yielded NABH accreditation to the hospital in February 2019. A dedicated 12-bedded ward for Pediatric Oncology (Jawahar Ward) was started, with free beds, diet, and highly subsidized treatment.
• The hospital joined hands with the National Center for Disease Informatics & Research (Indian Council of Medical Research) National Cancer Registry Program, Bengaluru, to start various research projects: Hospital-Based Cancer Registry (2014), Population-Based Cancer Registry (2018).
• Currently, the department is equipped with state-of-the-art LINACs, one Truebeam, two Halcyon, one Telecobalt Unit, and an HDR Microselectron Brachytherapy Unit.