The Irish Cancer Society (ICS) has said that there are shocking variations across the country in terms of access to cancer tests and treatments.
The charity said that this is causing avoidable deaths.
The ICS said that new data identifies major variations in access to life-saving chemotherapy and radiotherapy treatment and delays for patients who have been referred for urgent breast and prostate tests.
President of the Irish Society of Medical Oncology and consultant oncologist at University Hospital Galway, Dr Michael McCarthy, said that from working in the west of Ireland he sees the human cost of the postcode lottery in Irish cancer care every day.
He said that once chemotherapy is prescribed, the National Cancer Strategy states that it should start within 15 working days.
Dr McCarthy said the reality in Galway is that patients are now typically waiting seven to eight weeks for their first session.
He added that with every week that passes, the risk increases that their cancer will grow, or worse it will spread to other parts of their body.
The system does not have enough staff, space or equipment to cope and patients are paying the price, he added.
The HSE said that investment is having a real and measurable impact on access to cancer care and outcomes.
It added that the service is committed to ensuring all patients get timely and equitable access to cancer treatment.
Irish Cancer Society Chief Executive Averil Power said that a person's chances of surviving cancer are up to four times higher when treated at Stage 1 than at Stage 4.
The ICS said that some radiotherapy equipment with a useful life of ten years is now 17 years old and subject to significantly more downtime for maintenance and repairs as a result.
It said there are no PET scanners in the public cancer centres in Galway, Waterford or Limerick.
The society said there are big variations in waiting times for patients to be seen at rapid access clinics for urgent symptomatic breast disease, urgent lung and prostate cases.
Nationally, from March of last year up to February of this year, it said that only just over 73% of patients got their first appointment within the recommended time frame.
It added that the HSE Key Performance Indicators only record the patient's waiting for a first appointment at the Rapid Access Clinics, not how long they have to wait for diagnostic tests to determine if they have cancer.
The society said that increasingly, tests that would have been performed on the first appointment date are not now taking place until weeks or months later.
The Mater University Hospital has responded to Irish Cancer Society data, showing that one female patient waited 169 days to be seen for her first referral to a Rapid Access Clinic for urgent symptomatic breast disease.
The hospital said it could not comment on individual cases for confidentiality reasons.
However it said that its mammography service is facing significant capacity constraints, due to high demand and a lack of funding.
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It said it regretted any inconvenience caused to patients due to these constraints and it has apologised that this may be a cause of concern or extra stress for patients.
The hospital said it has submitted a comprehensive business case requesting extra staffing and resources to support the demands of the service and to reduce any delays, including in surveillance mammography.
It added that last year, dedicated funding for extra mammography was removed, which directly impacted on the unit's ability to meet the demand for services.
The Mater case was identified from data on access to Rapid Access Cclinics nationally which the ICS said covered March 2024 until February of this year.
Less than three in ten symptomatic breast cancer cases were seen for the first time at the Rapid Access Clinic within the target of 95% within ten working days.
One of six targets met, says Power
Speaking on RTÉ's Morning Ireland, Ms Power said that of six targets set by the HSE for cancer tests and treatment in the national cancer strategy, only one was met.
"We think it's shocking that where you live can have significant impact on where you start your treatment because sadly starting late runs the risk that your cancer has become more aggressive, that is developed further and is harder to treat," she said.
The recommendation is that chemotherapy begins within 15 days but that is not the case for many people, she said.
Ms Power said that in the west, people can be waiting seven or eight weeks to start their chemotherapy.
She added that there are also issues with equipment deficits and physical space across the country.
This is "taking a real human toll on patients, and they're also putting staff in a really stressful situation", she added.
Cancer survival rates improving - HSE
In response to the ICS statement, the HSE said that cancer survival is improving and that more people are living after cancer than ever before.
It added that today over 220,000 people here are living with or after cancer, which is a 50% increase compared with a decade ago.
The HSE said that during the lifetime of the current National Cancer Strategy 2017-2026, the National Cancer Control Programme has allocated around €90m for the development of services, including €20m for new services this year and next year.
The HSE said this has supported the creation of 800 wholetime posts across the public cancer services, including 120 consultants, 300 nurses and 300 health and social care professionals.
Around 40,000 cancers or related tumours are diagnosed here each year.
The overall burden of cancer in Ireland is increasing, particularly due to population growth and ageing.
