Colon cancer surgery specialist centres NSW

Criteria for a specialist colon cancer centre

Surgery is the main treatment for colon cancer along with adjuvant chemotherapy if cancer has spread to the lymph nodes. ^[1–to2]

Colon cancer resection is a surgery performed in health facilities across NSW. Patients may benefit from undergoing surgery closer to home in facilities equipped to undertake these procedures, and with access to a multidisciplinary cancer care team for colon cancer.^[3-4]

It is recommended that specialist colon cancer centres meet the following criteria perform 12 resections per year* and have a multidisciplinary cancer care team listed on Canrefer.

* This minimum suggested annual surgical caseload has been selected based on the hospital-level distribution of Colon cancer resections in NSW.

Multidisciplinary cancer care team

All people diagnosed with Colon cancer should have their care overseen by a multidisciplinary cancer care team to develop an integrated and individualised treatment management plan. ^[3]

The involvement of a multidisciplinary cancer care team is required. ^[3] This team brings together health care professionals from different specialties to discuss a patient’s cancer diagnosis and staging, and their treatment options. It also enhances communication and care co-ordination between the specialists involved in a patient’s care.

Australian and international studies state that patients overseen by a multidisciplinary cancer care team experience better outcomes after cancer treatment.^[3-4]

Actions for Health Professionals

Patient referral

Patients with a suspected or confirmed colon cancer should be referred to a specialist who is a member of a multidisciplinary cancer care team, and practices at one of the specialist centres listed below.

Even if surgery does not seem likely at the time of referral, involvement of an appropriate multidisciplinary team (MDT) early in the cancer journey is recommended to ensure optimal assessment, care, and outcomes.

The Canrefer website allows you to find cancer specialists who are MDT members, and has information about cancer services, optimal care pathways, and patient resources.

Smoking cessation support

Evidence suggests that tobacco cessation following cancer diagnosis improves survival. It also reduces treatment-related complications.[5-6] Health professionals should discuss tobacco use with all patients and provide appropriate cessation support.

List of public specialist centres for Colon cancer surgery

Local Health District	Hospital Name	Annual average colon resection caseload Jan 2021 - Dec 2022	Multidisciplinary cancer care team
South Eastern Sydney	St George	101-120	St George Cancer Care Centre Colorectal Cancer MDT
Sydney	Royal Prince Alfred	101-120	Royal Prince Alfred and Lifehouse Colorectal Cancer MDT
Illawarra Shoalhaven	Wollongong	101-120	Illawarra Shoalhaven Local Health District Colorectal Cancer MDT
Hunter New England	John Hunter	81-100	Hunter New England Rectal Cancer MDT
South Western Sydney	Bankstown / Lidcombe	61-80	Bankstown Cancer Centre Colorectal Cancer MDT
Sydney	Concord	61-80	Concord Cancer Centre Colorectal Cancer MDT
Nepean Blue Mountains	Nepean	61-80	Nepean Cancer Care Centre Lower Gastrointestinal Cancer MDT
Western Sydney	Blacktown	61-80	Western Sydney Local Health District Colorectal Cancer MDT
South Western Sydney	Liverpool	41-60	Liverpool-Macarthur Cancer Therapy Centre Colorectal Cancer MDT
Western Sydney	Westmead	41-60	Western Sydney Local Health District Colorectal Cancer MDT
Central Coast	Gosford	41-60	Gosford Hospital Colorectal and Upper Gastrointestinal Cancer MDT
Hunter New England	Tamworth Base	41-60
South Western Sydney	Campbelltown	41-60	Liverpool-Macarthur Cancer Therapy Centre Colorectal Cancer MDT
Northern NSW LHD	Lismore Base	41-60	Lismore Colorectal and Upper Gastrointestinal Cancer MDT
Central Coast LHD	Wyong	41-60	Gosford Hospital Colorectal and Upper Gastrointestinal Cancer MDT
Northern NSW LHD	The Tweed	21-40	Tweed Cancer Care Colorectal Cancer MDT
Mid North Coast	Port Macquarie Base	21-40	Port Macquarie Breast, Gastrointestinal and Other Cancer MDT
South Eastern Sydney	Prince of Wales	21-40	Prince of Wales Colorectal Cancer MDT
Northern Sydney	Royal North Shore	21-40	Royal North Shore Hospital Colorectal Cancer MDT
Western NSW	Dubbo Base	21-40	Western Cancer Centre Gastrointestinal Oncology MDT
Mid North Coast	Coffs Harbour Base	21-40	Coffs Harbour Gastrointestinal Cancer MDT
Murrumbidgee	Wagga Wagga Base	21-40	Riverina Cancer Care Centre Gastrointestinal Cancer MDT
Hunter New England	Maitland	21-40	Hunter New England Rectal Cancer MDT
Hunter New England	Calvary Mater Newcastle	21-40	Hunter New England Rectal Cancer MDT
Western NSW	Orange Health Service	21-40	Central West Cancer Care Centre Gastrointestinal Cancer MDT
Hunter New England	Manning Base	21-40	Hunter New England Rectal Cancer MDT
South Eastern Sydney LHD	Sutherland	21-40	Sutherland Hospital Colorectal Cancer MDT
St Vincent's Health Network	St Vincents Hospital, Darlinghurst	21-40	The Kinghorn Cancer Centre Colorectal Cancer MDT
Northern Sydney LHD	Hornsby and Ku-Ring-Gai	21-40	Sydney Adventist Hospital Gastrointestinal Cancer MDT
Western NSW	Bathurst Base	21-40	Central West Cancer Care Centre Gastrointestinal Cancer MDT
Illawarra Shoalhaven	Shoalhaven and District Memorial	21-40	Illawarra Shoalhaven Local Health District Colorectal Cancer MDT
Northern NSW LHD	Grafton Base	12-20	Lismore Colorectal and Upper Gastrointestinal Cancer MDT
Southern NSW LHD	South East Regional	12-20	Canberra Region Cancer Centre Gastrointestinal Cancer MDT
Northern Sydney	Ryde	12-20	Royal North Shore Hospital Colorectal Cancer MDT
Murrumbidgee LHD	Griffith Base	12-20	Riverina Cancer Care Centre Gastrointestinal Cancer MDT
Southern NSW LHD	Goulburn Base	12-20	Canberra Region Cancer Centre Gastrointestinal Cancer MDT

List of private specialist centres for Colon cancer surgery surgery

Local Health District	Hospital Name	Annual average colon resection caseload Jul 2020 - Jun 2022	Multidisciplinary cancer care team
Northern Sydney	Sydney Adventist Private	81-100	Sydney Adventist Hospital Gastrointestinal Cancer MDT
Hunter New England	Newcastle Private	61-80	Hunter New England Rectal Cancer MDT
Central Coast	Gosford Private	61-80	Gosford Hospital Colorectal and Upper Gastrointestinal Cancer MDT
Northern Sydney	North Shore Private	61-80	Royal North Shore Hospital Colorectal Cancer MDT
Sydney	Chris O'Brien Lifehouse	41-60	Royal Prince Alfred and Lifehouse Colorectal Cancer MDT
Northern Sydney	Northern Beaches	41-60	Northern Beaches Hospital Gastrointestinal Cancer MDT
Western Sydney	Norwest Private	41-60	Norwest Private Hospital Gastrointestinal Cancer MDT
South Eastern Sydney	Prince of Wales Private	41-60	Prince of Wales Colorectal Cancer MDT
South Eastern Sydney	St Vincent's Private	41-60	The Kinghorn Cancer Centre Colorectal Cancer MDT
South Eastern Sydney	St George Private	21-40	St George Cancer Care Centre Colorectal Cancer MDT
Northern Sydney	Macquarie University	21-40	Macquarie University Hospital Cancer Program Colorectal and Gastrointestinal Cancer MDT
Illawarra Shoalhaven	Wollongong Private	21-40	Illawarra Shoalhaven Local Health District Colorectal Cancer MDT
Nepean Blue Mountains	Nepean Private	21-40	Nepean Cancer Care Centre Lower Gastrointestinal Cancer MDT
Western Sydney	Westmead Private	21-40	Western Sydney Local Health District Colorectal Cancer MDT
Murrumbidgee	Calvary Riverina Hospital	21-40	Riverina Cancer Care Centre Gastrointestinal Cancer MDT
Northern NSW	St Vincent's Private Hospital, Lismore	12-20	Lismore Colorectal and Upper Gastrointestinal Cancer MDT
Western Sydney	Hospital for Specialist Surgery	12-20	Western Sydney Local Health District Colorectal Cancer MDT
Murrumbidgee	Albury Wodonga Private	12-20	Border/East Hume Cancer Network Gastrointestinal Cancer MDT
Mid North Coast	Port Macquarie Private	12-20	Port Macquarie Breast, Gastrointestinal and Other Cancer MDT
Northern Sydney	Mater North Sydney	12-20	Royal North Shore Hospital Colorectal Cancer MDT
Western NSW	Dubbo Private	12-20	Western Cancer Centre Gastrointestinal Oncology MDT

Codes

Surgical caseload data sourced from Admitted Patient, Emergency Department Attendance, and Deaths Register (APEDDR) via Secure Analytics for Population Health Research and Intelligence (SAPHaRI), Centre for Epidemiology and Evidence, NSW Ministry of Health.
In-scope diagnoses: C18, C19, C20
In-scope procedures: 30515-04, 30515-06,32003-02,32000-02,32003-03,32000-03,32005-03,32004-03,32006-02,32006-03,32005-02,32004-02,32012-01,32009-01,32030-01,30390-00,30393-00,30515-03,30515-05,32003-00,32000-00,32003-01,32000-01,32005-01,32004-01,32006-00,32006-01,32005-00,32004-00,32012-00,32009-00,32030-00,32060-00,32024-00,92208-00,32015-00,32051-00,32051-01,32051-02,32051-03,32039-00,32025-00,32026-00,32028-00,30390-00,30393-00,96211-00,90450-00,90450-01,90450-02,90343-01

Reference

Benson AB, Venook AP, Al-Hawary MM, Azad N, Chen Y-J, Ciombor KK, et al. Anal Carcinoma, Version 2.2023, NCCN Clinical Practice Guidelines in Oncology. Journal of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network. 2023;21(6):653-77.
Irani JL, Hedrick TL, Miller TE, Lee L, Steinhagen E, Shogan BD, et al. Clinical practice guidelines for enhanced recovery after colon and rectal surgery from the American Society of Colon and Rectal Surgeons and the Society of American Gastrointestinal and Endoscopic Surgeons. Surgical Endoscopy. 2023;37(1):5-30.
Bedrikovetski S, Dudi‐Venkata NN, Kroon HM, Traeger LH, Seow W, Vather R, et al. A prospective study of diagnostic accuracy of multidisciplinary team and radiology reporting of preoperative colorectal cancer local staging. Asia‐Pacific Journal of Clinical Oncology. 2023;19(1):206-13.
Elsaadi NJ, Jahany MOA. An Investigative Analysis of the Role of Multidisciplinary Teams in Cancer Management: Assessing Advantages and Obstacles. The Scientific Journal of University of Benghazi. 2023;36(1).
Jassem J. Tobacco smoking after diagnosis of cancer: clinical aspects. Translational lung cancer research. 2019;8(Suppl 1):S50.
Warren GW, Alberg AJ, Cummings KM, Dresler C. Smoking cessation after a cancer diagnosis is associated with improved survival. Journal of Thoracic Oncology. 2020;15(5):705-8.