For cancer treatment in Telangana, the road still leads to Hyderabad

From chemotherapy sessions to radiation therapy and specialised cancer surgeries, patients from several Telangana districts continue to depend on the capital city of Hyderabad and its surrounding urban belt for cancer treatment, according to the State’s ‘Cancer Incidence and Prevalence Mapping across Telangana’ report.

The report, based on Aarogyasri treatment data between April 2020 and September 2025, highlights a sharp concentration of cancer infrastructure and patient load in Hyderabad and neighbouring districts. Overall, the report identified 1,00,294 cancer patients treated under Aarogyasri during the study period.

Hyderabad recorded the highest number of treated cancer patients in Telangana at 12,517, followed by Rangareddy with 6,372; Medchal Malkajgiri with 5,483; Nalgonda with 4,840; Nizamabad with 4,520; Khammam with 4,086; Karimnagar with 3,601; Jagtial with 3,586 and  Hanumakonda with 3,470. Mulugu had the lowest cancer patients with 804 cases.

Hyderabad accounted for 26 cancer-treating hospitals, including 14 government and 12 private facilities. This was followed by Rangareddy, with one government and five private hospitals, Medchal Malkajgiri with three government and three private hospitals, Hanumakonda with two government and three private hospitals, and Karimnagar with one government and two private hospitals.

The figures indicate that patients from several districts are travelling to Hyderabad for diagnosis, chemotherapy, radiation treatment, surgeries, and follow-up care, often over long distances and across multiple hospital visits.

According to the report, private hospitals treated 53,523 (53.4%) cancer patients during the 5 year and 6 month study period, compared to 43,480 (43.4%) patients treated in government hospitals. Another 3,291 patients underwent treatment in both sectors. “The data indicates that private hospitals manage a marginally larger share of cases, reflecting a patient preference for private sector facilities when accessing cancer care through the Aarogyasri scheme,” the report said.

The government-run Mehdi Nawaz Jung Institute of Oncology and Regional Cancer Centre (MNJIO RCC) in Hyderabad emerged as the largest cancer treatment centre, accounting for 34,256 treated cases. It was followed by the Basavatarakam Indo American Cancer Hospital and Research Institute (BIACHRI), Hyderabad, which treated 21,508 patients, and the Nizam’s Institute of Medical Sciences (NIMS), Hyderabad, which accounted for 8,641 cases.

The findings point towards increasing dependence on private oncology centres even within a government-funded healthcare system, particularly in urban clusters where advanced cancer care facilities remain concentrated.

Certain highly specialised procedures remained concentrated within the public healthcare system. The report stated that all 289 stem cell transplantation procedures recorded under the Aarogyasri oncology network during the study period were performed exclusively in government hospitals.