National MDT for complex cases of testicular cancer

St Vincent’s University Hospital, Dublin, has launched a new initiative which aims to improve access to appropriate treatment and optimal outcomes for patients with testicular cancer (TC). On foot of the hospital being designated as a National Centre for Retroperitoneal Lymph Node Dissection for Testicular Cancer, a national multidisciplinary team (MDT) has been established to specifically discuss and manage complex cases of TC.

Speaking about the initiative at the 2026 John Fitzpatrick Irish Genitourinary Cancer Conference, Prof Ray McDermott, who leads the project, said the monthly meeting is drawing more and more cases.

“We’ve had some great buy-in. We’ve had three meetings so far. They are happening once a month at the moment, on the first Tuesday of the month. The first meeting was kind of a trial run, and we discussed a handful of patients. At the second meeting, we discussed 10 patients from all around the country. At the third meeting, we discussed 12 patients,” he said.

The meeting takes place by Zoom and clinicians from around the country can submit cases for review and discussion. Chosen cases are reviewed by the MDT, which includes urology and andrology surgeons, medical oncologists with special interests in urological and testicular cancer, pathologists and radiologists with a special interest in urological cancer, urology and medical oncology fellows, specialist advanced nurse practitioners and clinical nurse specialists, as well as a dedicated MDT coordinator and data manager.

“There are 170 testicular cancers in Ireland every year. I don’t think we need to discuss all of them, but we need to discuss a good portion of them, probably a bit more than we’re discussing at the moment. And I think we need standardised protocols for each and every one of those patients. That’s all part of what we would hope to achieve over the next few years,” Prof McDermott said.