History
The Department of Cytopathology was established in 1951 by Dr. D J Jussawala, former Director of Tata Memorial Centre and Founder Honorary Secretary of the Indian Cancer Society. The laboratory was started as a collaborative effort of the Indian Cancer Society and the medical division of the Department of Atomic Energy, then headed by Dr. Hannah Peters.

The Department of Cytopathology became a part of Tata Memorial Centre in May 1972 and merged with the Department of Pathology in February 1978.

It was accredited by the Indian Academy of Cytologists in 1980 as a laboratory offering specialized diagnostic services in the field of cytopathology and later in 1984 as a training and examination centre.

In its formative years the Department of Cytopathology handled approximately 600 exfoliative cytology cases per year. Over the years the workload has increased to 20,000 cases per year.

Services
The Department of Cytopathology provides diagnostic services in the field of cytopathology which include:

Educational Activities
The Department of Cytopathology has many observers from different parts of India and other foreign countries. Both cytotechnicians as well as doctors are drawn to this laboratory for training in collection, preparation and interpretation of cytological smears.

Cytotechnicians Training Course
The Department of Cytopathology started the cytotechnicians training course in 1992. A one and a half year combined histology and cytology techniques course i.e. the Advanced Histology and Cytology Technicians Training Course was started in 2000.
This includes six months training in cytology and rest in histopathology, molecular pathology, biochemistry and clinical pathology. In cytology the training comprises of lectures, hands-on technical training and microscopy.