Mater Private Network expands radiotherapy services for cancer patients across the Mid-West

Mater Private Network is expanding its radiotherapy service in Limerick, giving public and private cancer patients across the Mid-West access to a broader range of specialist expertise and advanced treatment options closer to home.

The expansion will double the consultant radiation oncology team from two to four, bringing together specialist expertise across a range of cancers and treatment approaches. As every cancer and every patient is different, this wider expertise, combined with advanced radiotherapy technology, will give the team greater scope to tailor treatment to individual patient needs.

One of the advanced treatments now available in Limerick is stereotactic ablative radiotherapy (SABR) for eligible prostate cancer patients. This more targeted form of radiotherapy can allow some patients to complete their treatment in just five sessions, compared with around 20 treatment days with a conventional course. This can significantly reduce the number of hospital visits required, making treatment more convenient for patients while delivering comparable outcomes.

Mater Private Network is also developing advanced stereotactic radiotherapy for lung cancer in Limerick, with the first treatment expected in October 2026. The service plans to expand stereotactic treatment to intracranial and spinal tumours in the future, further broadening the treatment options available.

Mater Private Network has invested approximately €20 million in its radiation oncology services over the past five years, supporting advanced treatments across its network. In Limerick, both radiotherapy treatment machines were replaced in 2023 and 2025, helping the centre continue to expand the range of specialised treatments available locally.

Prof. Daniel Cagney, Clinical Lead in Stereotactic Radiation at Mater Private Network, said, “Radiotherapy has come a long way and has become increasingly precise and personalised. Doubling our consultant team and having a broader range of specialist expertise within the Limerick team allows us to continue developing the service in line with those advances. For patients across the Mid-West, it means we can assess and treat a wider range of cancers and increasingly provide highly specialised treatments here in Limerick.”

Located on the University Hospital Limerick campus, Mater Private Network’s Mid-Western Radiation Oncology Centre forms an integral part of the Mid-Western Cancer Centre and treats both public and private patients. For more than 20 years, its expert multidisciplinary team of radiation therapists, physicists, nurses and other specialist healthcare professionals has delivered radiation oncology care in the Mid-West. The centre provides care to approximately 100 people each day.

Across its Dublin and Limerick centres, Mater Private Network has seven radiation oncologists with specialist expertise across a range of tumour types and advanced radiotherapy treatments.

For more than 16 years, the Mater Private Network has helped people receiving specialist palliative care at Milford Hospice access radiotherapy close to home when they need it. For patients and families across Clare, Limerick and North Tipperary, this can mean treatment at the Mid-Western Radiation Oncology Centre to ease pain and bring greater comfort during an especially difficult time.