Stats: Every year, India records an estimated 1.46 million new cancer cases. More than nine lakh people die annually, and statistically, one in nine Indians will face cancer in their lifetime.
When someone in India hears the word cancer, the next few conversations are usually predictable: staging, scans, treatment plans, side effects, costs. The focus is on acting fast, and understandably so. But quietly, in a small window between diagnosis and the first surgery, chemotherapy cycle or radiation session, a new idea is beginning to take shape: preparing patients before treatment begins.
It’s called cancer prehabilitation, and while it’s still unfamiliar to many Indian patients, doctors say it could change how people experience cancer care, not by replacing treatment, but by strengthening the person undergoing it.
What exactly is cancer prehabilitation?
“Prehabilitation is about not waiting for treatment to weaken the patient,” says Dr Satish Pawar, senior consultant and head of surgical oncology and robotic surgery at CARE Hospitals, Hyderabad. “It’s a structured early-intervention approach that starts soon after diagnosis, before active treatment begins.”
Instead of reacting to fatigue, weight loss, anxiety or breathlessness after surgery or chemotherapy, prehabilitation focuses on building physical strength, nutritional reserves and emotional readiness in advance. Exercise plans, diet optimisation, breathing techniques and psychological counselling all come together with one goal: helping patients enter treatment in the best possible condition.
“It reframes cancer care from being purely reactive to being proactive,” Dr Pawar explains.
What usually happens after diagnosis in India?
In most Indian settings, the race to begin treatment often overshadows everything else. According to Dr Randeep Singh, director and senior consultant, oncology services at Narayana Hospital, Gurugram, the early days after diagnosis are packed with critical, but narrow, discussions.
“We talk about how advanced the cancer is, treatment options, side effects, and finances. These are essential conversations,” he says. “But they leave very little space for preparing the patient’s body and mind for what lies ahead.”
This doesn’t mean supportive care is absent. Large tertiary centres do have dietitians, physiotherapists, psychologists and even psycho-oncologists. But what’s missing, doctors agree, is a clearly defined, structured prehabilitation programme that brings all these elements together in a planned, time-bound way.
As a result, access often depends on geography and privilege. Patients treated in major urban hospitals may receive integrated support. Many others, especially in overcrowded government hospitals or smaller cities, are left to navigate nutrition, emotional stress and physical decline on their own.
How common is prehabilitation in India?
By global standards, prehabilitation is still new even in high-income countries. In India, it’s firmly in its early stages.
“A few leading cancer centres and private hospitals have started structured programmes,” says Dr Pawar. “But widespread adoption hasn’t happened yet.”
Dr Singh agrees. “Most hospitals already offer the components—nutrition advice, physiotherapy, counselling, but not as a unified pathway. Implementation is inconsistent.”
Heavy patient loads, limited staffing and pressure to start treatment quickly all act as barriers. There’s also a perception that waiting—even briefly—for preparation could delay life-saving care, despite international data suggesting that short prehabilitation windows can actually reduce complications and hospital stays.
Do patients actually do better?
While large India-specific outcome studies are still limited, clinicians say the pattern is consistent.
“Patients who undergo prehabilitation tend to tolerate chemotherapy and radiation better, resume daily activities sooner and adhere more closely to treatment plans,” says Dr Pawar.
Dr Singh puts it simply: “Patients who feel informed, supported and prepared stick with treatment, and that clearly improves outcomes.”
A missing phase, slowly taking shape
Globally, countries like the UK and Australia are integrating prehabilitation into standard cancer pathways, backed by growing evidence that preparation improves recovery and reduces complications. India isn’t there yet, but momentum is building.
“We’re at a turning point,” Dr Shaikh says. “The challenge is moving prehabilitation from the privilege of a few to the right of many.”
