Prostate Cancer Treatment

Tom Gordon Excerpts

Tuesday 17th June 2025 Commons Chamber

[Dr Huq]

The hon. Gentleman makes a powerful point. We are seeing a theme of uneven application. The rule of law means that the law applies to everyone, so it looks like something has gone wrong here.

[Tom Gordon (Harrogate and Knaresborough) (LD)]

I thank the hon. Lady for securing this important Adjournment debate. We have heard from a number of Members who have constituents who are affected or have frustrations with the current system. I met a gentleman called David in the run-up to the general election who has metastatic prostate cancer and is not eligible for abiraterone. He asked me if we would push and do what we could in Parliament to ensure that people such as him could get the drug. He is fortunate and can afford to pay for it privately, but not everyone is in that situation. This is about ensuring that we have equality of access for everyone, regardless of their financial circumstances. Does the hon. Lady agree that we need to have another look at this issue?

[Dr Huq]

I completely agree with the hon. Gentleman that access should be based not on how deep somebody’s pockets are, but on need.

Abiraterone halves the risk of relapse. Each relapse literally costs the NHS millions—the definition of lose-lose. As many Members have pointed out, it is already successfully available on the NHS and routinely funded for use in metastatic cases in England, but sadly there is a catch: abiraterone is not available on the NHS for men with non-metastatic prostate cancer living in England.