A major audit of cancer services at Dublin's St James's Hospital has found that the cancer treatment programme   at the hospital has achieved cure rates that benchmark favourably with outcomes from the best international standards.

The review of cancer treatment at St James's has found that five-year survival rates for all cancers are consistent with best international benchmarks, with excellent cure rates for breast, prostate, and bowel cancer, for example, and evidence of improving cure rates for oesophageal and lung cancer.

There has been a 100% increase in new referrals for oesophageal cancer, lung cancer, stomach cancer, head and neck cancer, and malignant melanoma.

According to the audit, 47% of patients have clinical stage one and stage two cancer at the time of diagnosis, and can therefore have a better chance of a successful outcome for their treatment.

There has also been a 2.5-fold increase in new urology cancers diagnosed and/or treated in the ten-year period with a near five-fold increase in prostate cancer diagnosis alone. The urology service accounts for 14% of the national rapid access prostate cancer activity.