The very word Cancer throws a scare in your mind, pronounces the ultimatum, writes an epitaph. Unless you have first hand experience or you watched a near and dear one struggle, you actually have no idea what desperation Cancer can cause. You pray, you curse, you bargain with God, you clutch at any hope for a second chance at life. It is the second leading cause of death all over the world, of which tobacco itself accounts for 30% of all cancers. The good news is awareness reduces death by 50% and it can be cured if detected at an early stage.

In early 1973, seeing the plight of cancer patients who failed to get even a bed, not to talk about cancer care, Dr Saroj Gupta, then a young Radiotherapist, formed a Society with a group of Doctors, social workers and philanthropists. His mission was to form a Cancer Centre for the cancer afflicted patients and their families, with special emphasis on the underprivileged people. At Thakurpukur, on a piece of marshy land donated by the family of Late Chintaharan Das, SAROJ GUPTA CANCER CENTRE & RESEARCH INSTITUTE was incepted initially to provide a sojourn to the distressed cancer patients who came from remote villages for treatment of cancer. No one ever thought that this little known Thakurpukur would be an internationally known place. The first fund-raising event was a drama staged by a group called Sikha, based on a story written by Dr Saroj Gupta, where he himself enacted the role of a poor cancer patient who was denied a bed in the city hospital. Tears rolled down the cheeks of all those who were present there by the touching fact that there was no place for a little body of him in a big city with tall buildings and big hospitals, although he had traveled all the way from a remote village with a strong desire to live. Many in the audience became a part of the Society and joined hands with Dr Gupta to help him with his fight against Cancer.