The Power of Hope: The Autobiography of a Cancer Centre

In 1987, Dr Digpal Dharkar, freshly trained at the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, dreamt of setting up a world-class institution for head and neck oncology that offered the latest cancer treatment, particularly to the indigent in India, where cancer is the second-and fourth-highest killer of adults across urban and rural areas.

With a majority of people in rural areas facing economic difficulties only a few were able to afford cancer treatment and often diagnosis was left...