Mater Private Network has introduced stereotactic radiotherapy programmes for brain and spinal tumours in Limerick, alongside advanced treatment options for prostate cancer, with selected lung cancer patients to follow.

The expansion keeps highly specialised cancer treatment in the Mid-West, without the need for patients to travel to Dublin or Cork.

Professor Daniel Cagney, originally from Ballingarry, is helping to expand access to the service after serving as Assistant Professor of Radiation Oncology at Harvard Medical School and as a specialist at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston.

Mater Private Network, the Dublin-based private hospital group backed by InfraVia, has invested approximately €20 million in radiation oncology over the past five years, including replacing both Limerick radiotherapy machines in 2023 and 2025.

Stereotactic radiotherapy uses highly targeted radiation to treat tumours with precision, and the first lung cancer treatment is expected in October 2026. Prof Cagney specialises in lung cancer among other cancers, while the wider team will include specialists in prostate, breast and gynaecological cancers.

Some prostate cancer patients who might previously have required 20 visits can now complete their course over five days. “It’s about delivering radiation more precisely and allowing us to do that effectively in a shorter number of visits for patients,” said Cagney, who stressed that the shorter course does not come at the expense of effectiveness.

“I want to ensure that patients in the Mid-West are getting the same quality of care they would get in Boston or anywhere in the world,” said Cagney, who described returning to the region where he grew up as “very personal”.

The structural driver is greater radiation precision, which allows effective treatment over fewer visits and supports delivering specialised care closer to where patients live.

For the sector, the expansion confirms that private hospital groups are using regional radiotherapy capacity and precision-led treatment courses to anchor specialist cancer care outside Dublin.

Source: independent.ie / limerickpost.ie / materprivate.ie