Advanced radiotherapy at Cork University Hospital will cut prostate cancer treatments

An advanced form of radiotherapy will dramatically cut the number of treatments that patients in the South West region with prostate cancer have to undergo following its introduction at Cork University Hospital, it has been announced.

Prostate cancer patients who undergo this new treatment, stereotactic ablative body radiotherapy (SABR), will only have to undergo a fraction of the sessions compared to the 20 typically required with conventional radiotherapy.

The hospital has also 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 and has been described as helping teams make “faster, better-informed decisions that directly benefit patients”. These dual developments have been described as marking a new era for cancer services at CUH.

Important step

“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.”

The first patient to undergo prostate SABR at CUH completed the full course of treatment in just five sessions this March. Three more patients are currently being prepared for treatment.

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. 

Doubles capacity

The shorter treatment schedule effectively doubles capacity to deliver radical radiotherapy within the same clinical time. This development is described as supporting CUH’s broader strategy to bring state-of-the-art treatments closer to home for patients and to ensure equitable access to world-class care outside of Dublin.

The introduction of the National Cancer Information System, meanwhile, “marks a transformative step in how we manage and share patient information,” said Dr Dearbhaile Collins, clinical director at CUH. “Until now, cancer records were siloed within each hospital. NCIS ensures safer, more efficient care by providing real-time access to critical information.”