20/09/2025
In Memoriam: Dr. Anita Maria Borges (1947–2025)
India has lost a towering figure in cancer diagnostics. Dr. Anita Borges, lovingly called the “Queen of Histopathology,” passed away in Gorakhpur while teaching a CME program—doing exactly what she loved: guiding young doctors. She was 78.
A graduate of Topiwala National Medical College & Nair Hospital, Dr. Borges trained at Royal Marsden Hospital (London) and Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (New York) before choosing to come back and build oncopathology in India. At Tata Memorial Hospital, she rose to Professor and Head of Surgical Pathology (until 2004). Later, she set up and led centers of excellence in histopathology, including at SL Raheja Hospital and SRL Diagnostics; she also served as Vice-President (Asia) of the International Academy of Pathology and received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Indian Society of Head and Neck Oncologists.
Colleagues remember her razor-sharp diagnostic judgement, ethical clarity, and fierce mentorship—insisting students take first-author credit and urging everyone to “listen to the cells.” Even last week, she was on the road with the TMH Travelling School of Oncopathology, taking high-quality training to smaller cities.
At Art of Healing Cancer, we salute a life spent in service of precision, compassion, and teaching. Our deepest condolences to her family, students, and the oncology community. May her standards continue to guide every slide we review and every patient we serve.
— Team Art of Healing Cancer