Minimally Invasive Cancer Therapies

Lord Aberdare Excerpts

Thursday 24th July 2025 Lords Chamber

Asked by

[Lord Aberdare]

To ask His Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to explore the potential of minimally invasive cancer therapies, such as focused ultrasound to treat less survivable cancers; and how this will be addressed in the national cancer plan.

[Baroness in Waiting/Government Whip (Baroness Blake of Leeds) (Lab)]

I am sure that noble Lords will allow me to start by paying tribute to the noble Lord, Lord Aberdare, and to his contribution to your Lordships’ House. Many noble Lords will know that he is retiring from our House this summer. I thank him for all his work across a wide variety of issues, including skills, education, construction and of course health. I wish him well in his retirement.

Thanks to the Government’s innovative devices access pathway, which streamlines access to innovative medical technologies, we are supporting the rollout of histotripsy for liver tumours, a non-invasive ultrasound treatment for hard-to-beat cancers. We are working with partners to develop a rollout timetable to be shared later this summer. The national cancer plan, due later this year, will seek to improve every aspect of cancer care, including outcomes for those with less survivable cancers.

[Lord Aberdare (CB)]

My Lords, I thank the Minister for her response to my valedictory Question, and indeed all other colleagues, who have been generous—overgenerous, I would say—in their remarks on my retirement.

I also thank the Minister for her response, which is very encouraging. Focused ultrasound is a non-invasive technology capable of both imaging and actual treatment, with the potential to treat a wide range of conditions, including less survivable cancers and brain diseases. What are the Government doing to pursue the massive potential improvements offered by focused ultrasound—for example, in the treatment of malignant brain tumours, as demonstrated to the noble Lord, Lord Vallance of Balham, at a recent Royal Society summer science exhibition? How will the Government seek to promote further research and development for this important technique to catch up with other countries, which I am sorry to say are ahead of us, so that more UK patients can benefit from it?

[Baroness Blake of Leeds (Lab)]

The noble Lord raises an important question. New technologies are coming through quickly and the potential is exciting in terms of outcomes and patient experience, with much less time spent in hospital, for example, freeing up beds and time for other treatments. As well as the treatment that the noble Lord mentioned, we are also looking at robotic navigational bronchoscopy, for example, to diagnose lung cancer. Those are just some examples. I reassure him that this work is front and centre of the life sciences plan, and we look forward to the rollout of the plan, together with the cancer plan, linked to the 10-year health programme.