The number of centres enrolled in the International Accreditation System for Interventional Oncology Services (IASIOS) has surpassed 100, marking five years since the accreditation framework was launched with an initial cohort of 12 pilot institutions.
According to IASIOS, participating centres now span university hospitals, dedicated cancer centres and regional hospital networks across Europe, Asia, Australia, the Americas and the Middle East. The programme is based on the Cardiovascular and Interventional Radiological Society of Europe (CIRSE) Standards of Quality Assurance in Interventional Oncology, which are endorsed by more than 40 oncology and radiology societies.
The standards are intended to provide a framework for assessing institutional organisation and quality assurance in interventional oncology (IO), focusing on areas including multidisciplinary collaboration, patient selection, peri-procedural care, complication monitoring and follow-up, rather than specific clinical techniques.
IASIOS seeks to operationalise those standards through a three-tiered structure. Institutions first enrol and undertake a self-assessment of their services before progressing to accredited centre status following external peer review. A centre of excellence designation is awarded to institutions meeting both core and extended criteria, including academic activity and longitudinal outcomes monitoring.
Andreas Adam, chairperson of the IASIOS steering board said: “Patient care matters in all of interventional radiology [IR], but it is particularly important in the treatment of cancer. By emphasising the clinical aspects of IR, IASIOS ensures that patients treated in accredited centres can be confident of receiving the best possible care, not only in the procedure room but also in the ward and in the outpatient clinic.”
IASIOS states that the programme is designed to support departments at different stages of development while promoting greater consistency in the delivery of IO services.
Several participating centres described the accreditation process as an opportunity to review existing practices and identify areas for improvement.
Afshin Gangi and Roberto Luigi Cazzato, from the University Hospital of Strasbourg in Strasbourg, France—the first institution to achieve IASIOS centre of excellence designation—said: “This journey has allowed us to surpass ourselves by constantly questioning our practices in a quest for excellence that inspires respect and trust. The process has allowed us to thoroughly audit our practices and improve them. Much more than an accreditation process, IASIOS represents an affirmation of our unwavering commitment to excellence; it’s a promise to our patients and the desire to remain at the forefront of oncology treatments.”
Similarly, Uli Fehrenbach and colleagues at Charité University Hospital Berlin (Berlin, Germany) said the process enabled their department to “refine our workflows and align our services with international gold standards”, adding: “This achievement not only validates our high quality of patient care but also motivates us to continue advancing our clinical practice. We are proud to be part of the global IASIOS community and look forward to further improving oncological outcomes through innovation and standardised excellence.”
Lucas Smagge, Behnam Mohseny and colleagues at Erasmus MC (Rotterdam, the Netherlands) reported that participation prompted a review of pre- and post-procedural care pathways and patient safety protocols. “This meticulous approach has allowed us to optimise our practices where necessary, reinforcing our commitment to delivering consistent, high-quality care. As a result, we have built greater trust and confidence among our patients and colleagues, ensuring superior outcomes now and in the future.”
The programme has continued to expand internationally since its launch in 2021.
Mohammad Arabi, Shaker Alshehri and colleagues at King Abdulaziz Medical City (Riyadh, Saudi Arabia) said “the accreditation process challenged us to reflect, refine, and grow, not only in clinical delivery but also in teamwork and collaboration. We took a deeper look into our workflows, identified areas for improvement, and strengthened our commitment to excellence.”
In North America, the Mallinckrodt Institute of Radiology at Washington University in St Louis became the first accredited IASIOS centre in the USA. “We are the first institution in the USA to become associated with this accreditation and hope to lead the way for other IO practices in the USA,” said Jack Jennings and colleagues. Since then, the National Institutes of Health Clinical Center’s Center for Interventional Oncology has also achieved accredited centre status, while St Jude Children’s Research Hospital in Memphis, USA has become the first paediatric institution to enrol in the programme.
In Portugal, Paulo Donato, Alfredo Agostinho and colleagues at Hospital da Universidade de Coimbra described the accreditation process as “an excellent opportunity to evaluate how cancer patients are treated by IR at our hospital”, adding that it “allowed us to thoroughly assess our procedures, refine our methodologies, and strengthen our commitment to quality and patient-centred care.”
According to IASIOS, one objective of the framework is to encourage greater integration of IO services within multidisciplinary cancer care by requiring participating centres to demonstrate formal involvement in tumour boards, defined referral pathways, structured communication with referring clinicians and longitudinal patient follow-up.
The growth of structured quality assurance frameworks comes as IO continues to seek broader integration within multidisciplinary cancer care. While the role of image-guided cancer therapies has expanded, the degree to which interventional radiologists participate in treatment planning varies between institutions and healthcare systems.
Referral pathways, formal involvement in multidisciplinary tumour boards and long-term patient follow-up are increasingly recognised as important components of an established IO service. The CIRSE Standards of Quality Assurance in Interventional Oncology include these organisational measures among the criteria assessed during accreditation.
IASIOS states that requiring centres to demonstrate consistent participation in multidisciplinary cancer pathways aims to strengthen the visibility and accountability of IO within wider oncology teams.
To date, six institutions have been designated IASIOS centres of excellence: the University Hospital of Strasbourg (France), Singapore General Hospital (Singapore), Institut Bergonié (Bordeaux, France), Leiden University Medical Centre (Leiden, the Netherlands), SLK-Kliniken Heilbronn (Heilbronn, Germany) and Cantonal Hospital Winterthur (Brauerstrauss, Switzerland).
Representatives from Singapore General Hospital (Singapore, Singapore) said: “The award reinforces our responsibility to lead, educate and collaborate globally to promote high-quality IO services so that patients everywhere can benefit from this emerging field of cancer care.”
Despite growth in the number of participating centres, access to IO services continues to vary considerably between countries and institutions. Differences in infrastructure, workforce, referral pathways and resources mean that the availability of specialist IO services remains inconsistent.
IASIOS says one objective of expanding its international network is to encourage greater standardisation of organisational practices across diverse healthcare settings. The organisation argues that wider adoption of quality assurance frameworks could help support more consistent service delivery and facilitate the integration of IO into established cancer pathways.
The programme has now enrolled more than 100 centres worldwide, although IASIOS acknowledges that disparities in infrastructure and access remain, and that broader implementation of quality standards will require continued international engagement.
