Major step forward for CUH cancer care

CUH has become the first public hospital outside of Dublin to offer an advanced form of radiotherapy for prostate cancer patients.

The treatment, known as Stereotactic Ablative Body Radiotherapy (SABR) delivers higher doses of radiation in fewer sessions.

Last month, the first patient to undergo prostate SABR at CUH completed the full course of treatment in just five sessions. The same treatment would typically have required 20 sessions with conventional radiotherapy. Three more patients are currently being prepared for treatment at CUH.

“This is an important step forward in how we deliver prostate cancer care,” said Dr Martin Higgins, Consultant Radiation Oncologist at CUH.

“By using SABR, we can offer patients a more efficient and potentially more comfortable treatment experience, while also reducing the time they need to spend in hospital,” he added.

Prostate SABR is currently available to patients with low to intermediate-risk prostate cancer. Its high precision enables higher doses per session without increasing side effects, improving patient outcomes while also easing demand on radiotherapy units. The shorter treatment schedule effectively doubles CUH’s capacity to deliver radical radiotherapy within the same clinical time.

CUH has also successfully implemented the National Cancer Information System (NCIS), a centralised digital platform that ensures seamless sharing of cancer treatment information between Ireland’s designated cancer centres.

“The introduction of the NCIS is an innovative new addition to the hospital to help streamline cancer services,” said Fionnuala Frain, Project Manager at CUH.

She added: “It’s helping teams make faster, better-informed decisions that directly benefit patients.”