Latest News

Sudhir's story: Surviving three primary cancers

4 min read 23 October 2025

On three separate occasions, Sudhir has heard the three words that many people hope they never hear: "You have cancer".

A communications professional and Indian Army veteran, Sudhir has survived three primary cancers over the past five years: oral, lung and kidney cancer.

“I have had a ‘hat trick’ of cancers,” chuckles Sudhir.

“My GP jokingly calls me ‘The Six Million Dollar Man’ after the famous movie.”

Sudhir’s journey with cancer treatment began in April 2020, around the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic when many services were closing. Two years prior to this, Sudhir had been diagnosed with a condition called leukoplakia - a condition that causes white patches to develop inside the mouth. The patch had returned, and this time, it was cancerous.

Following a long and complicated surgery on his tongue, Sudhir underwent six weeks of radiotherapy at Peter Mac. He couldn’t speak for almost three months after treatment and had to undergo speech therapy.

“As someone who taught professional communications, it seemed to be the irony of my life that I lost the ability to communicate orally,” he notes, wryly.

Two years after his initial  treatment, Sudhir went to the doctors for testing in November 2022 and was diagnosed with primary lung cancer. Once again, Sudhir underwent surgery for his cancer – a lung resection, where one lobe of his lungs was surgically removed. This was then followed by chemotherapy and immunotherapy for over one year at Peter Mac.

While scanning Sudhir prior to the surgery for his lung, doctors incidentally detected that Sudhir had another cancer in his kidney. This was later confirmed in June, when Sudhir had his kidney removed. Fortunately, it had been caught early and required no further treatment.

Having thankfully survived these three primary cancers, Sudhir has finished his post-treatment checkups for his oral cancer but still undergoes periodic checkups for his lung and kidney cancers. Like many people who have been treated for cancer, Sudhir still lives with the side effects, including cachexia (a condition causing significant weight and muscle loss), speech difficulties and no longer producing adequate saliva in his mouth.

This is why funding for research into kinder, gentler treatments is so important.

Although these experiences were undoubtedly challenging for Sudhir, he found himself drawing on an old expression he’d learned from the commando training during his time in the army.

 “By the time the third cancer came around, I just said to myself, ‘when the going gets tough, the tough get going.’”

Sudhir says that he feels very grateful for his treatment experience at Peter Mac.

“The staff at Peter Mac are always humane, they never got mad at my wide range of questions, and they investigate options thoroughly to make sure patients receive the right answers.

“They also brought the therapy dogs in – I was so touched by this!”

In the spirit of giving back, Sudhir has been involved in various activities at Peter Mac and believes strongly in advocating for research and initiatives that improve outcomes for people with cancer.

“Every family will have someone with cancer – it’s so widespread. We need greater empathy, and we need improvement for cancer treatments through research.

“There is so much work to be done, and we – the general public – can help.”

To this end, Sudhir has put his experience with communications and media to good use. He has spoken at Peter Mac events and has made various video and radio appearances. He has also contributed to projects for culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) communities and leads charitable work for children with cancer in India. He even wrote a book about his experience with oral cancer, which he partly dedicated to Peter Mac.

“I am touched by the value for life and courtesy afforded to patients at Peter Mac,” he says.

Cancer can happen to us at any time in our lives – sometimes, more than once. Sudhir’s story illustrates why we need effective treatments across all cancer types, so that we can be assured that the best possible treatments are available to us at any time, every time.

The generosity of our supporters will help our dedicated researchers to discover more effective treatments and cancer cures.