Rare Cancers Bill

Daniel Francis Excerpts

Friday 14th March 2025 Commons Chamber

[Daniel Francis (Bexleyheath and Crayford) (Lab)]

I pay tribute to my hon. Friend the Member for Edinburgh South West (Dr Arthur) for introducing the Bill and for his work in bringing about this necessary debate on rare cancers. I also pay tribute to all Members who have spoken today, but particularly to my hon. Friend the Member for Calder Valley (Josh Fenton-Glynn) for his heartbreaking tribute to his brother.

Like too many across this House and throughout the United Kingdom, I have been on the receiving end of the devastating news that a loved one has been diagnosed with cancer, but when that cancer is defined as rare, it is infinitely more terrifying, when confronted with the reality that there is a lack of funding and research dedicated to those cancers. I therefore welcome the three steps in the Bill to encourage further research into rare cancers. I welcome the fact that it will place a duty on the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care to facilitate or otherwise promote research into rare cancers. The Bill will ensure that appropriate arrangements are in place for patients to be easily contacted about research opportunities and clinical trials, and will also ensure that there is adequate oversight of research delivery for rare cancers.

I also pay tribute to my hon. Friend the Member for Mitcham and Morden (Dame Siobhain McDonagh) for her dedication in bringing glioblastoma and other types of brain cancer to the forefront of the political debate. I would like to mention the all-party parliamentary group on brain tumours and its work to raise awareness of the issues facing the brain tumour community. I have seen at first hand how devastating glioblastoma can be: my dear friends and constituents, Ann and Richard Lucas, lost their son Fionn in 2022. Fionn was diagnosed with glioblastoma aged 58 in June 2022, and his cancer left him with a very short time to live—he died two months later. The Lucas family has supported the work of the Brain Tumour Charity to help find new treatments, offer the highest level of support and drive urgent change, given the charity’s aims of saving and improving lives and carrying out research into brain tumours globally.

Glioblastomas are fast-growing brain tumours. They are the most common type of cancerous malignant brain tumour in adults, yet as has been said, there is still a lack of funding. Of the 54% of research that is specifically about rare cancers, only 16% is focused on brain and nervous system cancers. I therefore welcome this Bill, thank my hon. Friends the Members for Edinburgh South West and for Mitcham and Morden, and place on record my support for the aims of the Bill—to support research, and to support those impacted by rare cancers.