Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he has had recent discussions with the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology on research into lobular breast cancer.

Cancer research is a critical priority for the Department of Health and Social Care, the Department of Science, Innovation and Technology, and their operational delivery partners, like the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) and the Medical Research Council (MRC). Department of Health and Social Care and Department of Science, Innovation and Technology officials meet regularly to discuss a range of research investments, including lobular and other breast cancers, to drive the maximum collective research impact on policy, practice, and individual lives.

The Department invests £1.5 billion each year on research through its research delivery arm, the NIHR. The NIHR spends more on cancer than any other disease group, at over £121.8 million in 2022/23, reflecting its high priority. The NIHR awarded funding to 53 new research projects on breast cancer in the period 2018/19 to 2022/23, to a total value of £31 million.

Cancer is also one of the largest areas of investment for the MRC with an annual spend of approximately £125 million, including investment in the Francis Crick Institute. In addition, other parts of UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) spend approximately £75 million annually. Over five years, between 2018 and 2022, the average funding awarded by UKRI, including the MRC, to breast cancer research was approximately £10 million per year.