Written by Professor Anil D’Cruz
Dr. D’Cruz is Director at the Tata Memorial Hospital, Mumbai, India as well as Professor and Surgeon, Department of Head & Neck Surgery. In recognition of his professional standing in the field of surgery and oncology he was awarded the Honorary FRCS from the Royal College of Surgeons London.
He is a distinguished leader in the field of oncology. He is the President Elect of the Union for International Cancer Control (UICC), Geneva and has been on the Board of Directors for six years (2012-2018). Dr D’Cruz was head of the task force on Cancer City Challenge (C Can 25) a global campaign of the UICC that strives to engage all cities with a population above one million to commit to improve access to quality cancer treatment for their citizens. Between now and 2025, the challenge will target over 200 cities to improve health of at least 500 million people worldwide.
Amongst his other leadership positions he is on the board of Governors of the Foundation of Head Neck Oncology India. He has served as President of Foundation of Head and Neck Oncology, India, President of the Asian Society of Head and Neck Oncology, Scientific Committee of the American Society of Head and Neck Cancers, and Executive Committee of the Indian Society of Surgical Oncology. He has been a member of the Task force for Chronic Diseases at the department of Biotechnology, Ministry of Science and Technology, Government of India and at present is on the task force for Cancer Guidelines at the Indian Council of Medical Research. He is also on the advisory board of the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Rishikesh, National Institute of Biomedical Genomics, Kalyani West Bengal, Prince Aly Khan hospital and Bhopal General Hospital, Regional Cancer Centre Trivandrum, Gulf Medical University UAE and Rajiv Gandhi Cancer Institute Delhi. He has been Secretary of Action Council for Tobacco and Governing member of V care NGOs with focus on tobacco advocacy and affordable cancer care.
Dr D’Cruz is actively involved in research in head and neck cancers and plays a pivotal role in nearly 50 trials to date. He has been Global Principal Investigator as well on the Steering Committee of a number of multicentric, multinational trials. These include Phase I studies and new treatments using photodynamic therapy in the treatment of head and neck cancers, as well as targeted therapy in the concurrent, adjuvant and palliative settings. His recent research on management of the the neck in early oral cancers was awarded an ASCO plenary 2015 and then selected as ASCOs clinical cancer advances 2016. The research was also published in the New England journal of Medicine, the first head and neck surgical trial to make it to this prestigious journal globally. He worked on research in the use of curcumin in head and neck cancer patients for which he received funding from the Government of India’s Ministry of Science and Technology, Department of Biotechnology. He is a part of a project to develop and validate molecular cytogenetic studies/Proteomics in oral cancers. Results of this work have been filed for a patent.
Dr. D’Cruz has more than 250 peer-reviewed publications and chapters to his name and is also an editor for a two volume text book on head and neck surgery. He is editor of Hamilton Bailey Clinical Signs as well as for the Manual of Clinical Oncology, both widely read books in over a 100 countries in the field of surgery and oncology. He is Associate Editor of Head and Neck Oncology Journal and member of the Editorial Board of many reputed national and international journals – Head & Neck, Oral Oncology, International Journal of Surgery, International Journal of Surgical Oncology, Indian Journal of Surgical Oncology, South Asian Journal of Cancer, and Journal of Global Oncology amongst some.
He has delivered more than 500 invited lectures and nearly 100 named lectures, key notes and orations both nationally and internationally, including the Eugene Myers International lecture in Head & Neck Cancers at the American Academy of Otolaryngology – Head & Neck Surgery and the Phillip Stell oration in the UK, and the Semon lecture at the Royal Society of Medicine. He has been invited as a keynote/plenary speaker to over a dozen head and neck societies around the world. He has been Chair of the World Cancer Congress at Paris 2016 and Malaysia 2018.
Dr D’Cruz is a much sought after teacher and is also instrumental in initiating the MCH super speciality training course in Head and Neck Oncology for the first time in India. He teaches for the MCH training program in Surgical and Head and Neck Oncology. He is actively involved in teaching post graduates in Otorhinolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, General Surgery and Surgical Oncology. He is also an examiner at various Universities across the country.