St. James’s Hospital Dublin – Ireland’s First European Accredited Thoracic Surgical Oncology Centre

Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer-related deaths amongst both men and women in Ireland with a significant rise predicted over the coming years. St. James’s thoracic surgical department consistently perform > 50% of all curative-intent operations for lung cancer in Ireland. Overall surgical activity has increased by 281% over the last 20-years with 2023 marking, for the first time, over 300 curative-intent resections for lung cancer (Figure 1). Over this time St. James’s has developed the institutional expertise to provide a comprehensive 360^o patient-centred journey of care for lung cancer patients with a unique expertise in the surgical management of high-volume, complex thoracic surgical oncology delivered by a dedicated multi-disciplinary team. St. James’s offers a comprehensive minimally invasive thoracic surgical program including robotic assisted thoracic surgery as well as complex open thoracic surgery following neoadjuvant treatment, complex Bronchosplastic & PA Resections / Reconstructions (Sleeve resections), Chest wall resections / reconstructions, Pancoasts tumours (Superior sulcus tumours), and clinical trials.  

Figure 1: Annual increase in primary resections for Lung Cancer at St. James’s Hospital 2003 – 2023

This centralisation of complex lung cancer care has enabled St. James’s to develop a unique cross-specialty team of dedicated healthcare professionals who are focused on the provision of optimal international standard thoracic surgical oncology care. This has been recognised by our recent accreditation by the European Society of Thoracic Surgeons (ESTS). We are the first European Accredited Thoracic Surgical Oncology Centre in Ireland, a key performance metric recognising excellence in the provision of thoracic surgical oncology care to Irish lung cancer patients (Figure 2).

Figure 2: Members of the St. James’s Hospital Multi-Disciplinary Thoracic Surgical Oncology team recently receiving Accreditation from the European Society of Thoracic Surgeons at the Annual Meeting in Barcelona (May 26^th 2024)

More recently, St James’s Hospital Consultant Cardiothoracic Surgeon Gerard Fitzmaurice has been appointed to the Staging and Prognostic Factors Group (SPFG) of the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer (IASLC). This is the first time that surgical patients in Ireland will contribute to the IASLC’s international lung cancer staging project signifying Ireland’s growing role in advancing global cancer care. This contribution will ensure that Irish patients’ characteristics are accounted for in the international effort to refine lung cancer staging and ultimately improve patient outcomes. It further highlights St. James’s Hospital as the de facto national centre for the surgical management of complex thoracic cancer care.

Figure 3: Official unveiling of the Accreditation Certificate from the European Society of Thoracic Surgeons by Prof Mary Day CEO St James’s Hospital, Mr Gerard Fitzmaurice Consultant Cardiothoracic Surgeon, and Prof John Kennedy Co-Director Trinity St. James’s Cancer Institute (November 6^th 2024)