BENGALURU: To help cancer patients who have to travel long distances for treatment, Health Minister Dinesh Gundu Rao on Thursday announced that District Day Care Chemotherapy Centres (DCCCs) will soon be opened across the state.
These centres, to be set up under a “hub-and-spoke model,” aim to decentralise cancer care and bring chemotherapy services closer to patients’ homes. Initially, the centres will be established in medical colleges across 16 districts.
Karnataka reports nearly 70,000 cases annually, with breast, cervical, oral, lung, and colorectal cancers being the most common, according to the ICMR-NCRP 2023 data. The minister said 60% of patients have to travel over 100 km to reach chemotherapy centres in Bengaluru, Hubballi, or Mysuru, often leading to treatment drop-out rates of up to 30% due to costs and logistical challenges.
“DCCCs are being established to ensure accessibility, lower costs, and better adherence to treatment. This will reduce the burden on tertiary hospitals while improving care in rural areas,” Gundu Rao said.
The DCCC system will operate through a hub-and-spoke model. Hub hospitals, such as tertiary care cancer centres, will handle complex cases and advanced diagnostics, including molecular profiling. They will also provide training, telemedicine support, and monitor quality. Meanwhile, spoke centres at the district level will manage outpatient chemotherapy, basic lab tests, pain management, counselling, and palliative care. They will maintain drug stocks and coordinate with hubs for referrals.
Each DCCC will have a visiting medical oncologist, two trained nurses, a physician, a pharmacist, and a counsellor.
For patients, the model is expected to reduce travel distance and additional costs by up to 40%, improve treatment completion with better local support, and offer early detection by linking with screening programmes under the National Programme for Non-Communicable Diseases (NPNCD), Gundu Rao said.