Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to improve access to clinical trials for patients with pancreatic cancer by ensuring that eligible patients are automatically identified and referred to appropriate clinical trials; increase access to personalised treatment through routine tumour profiling and testing, where clinically appropriate; and increase funding for pancreatic cancer research, including the development of new treatments and the expansion of clinical trials, to improve survival outcomes for patients with pancreatic cancer.

The Department is committed to ensuring that all patients, including those with pancreatic cancer, have access to cutting-edge clinical trials and innovative, lifesaving treatments.

The National Cancer Plan sets out the Government’s ambition to deliver world class cancer care through world class research, including delivering breakthroughs for rare and less survivable cancers. Throughout the lifetime of this plan, we will ensure that every cancer patient gets the opportunity to access relevant clinical trials quickly, fairly, and easily.

As set out in this plan, the Government will implement the Rare Cancers Act 2026, including Section 3 of the act which will involve developing a service to ensure rare cancer patients, including those with pancreatic cancer, can be automatically contacted about clinical trials. Implementing the provisions of the Rare Cancers Act will make it easier for clinical trials on pancreatic cancer to take place in England.

The plan also sets out clear actions to expand genomic testing, sometimes referred to as tumour profiling, and confirms that every cancer patient who would benefit from genomic testing, including those with rare cancers like pancreatic cancer, will receive it within a clinically relevant timeframe. The plan also commits to ensuring this is matched by access to targeted therapies.

To support timely access to treatments identified through genomic testing, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) and Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) aligned pathway process was launched in April 2026. The process accelerates licensing and appraisal so that National Health Service funding recommendations can be made more quickly. The expansion of the NHS Genomic Medicine Service will also help identify suitable targeted therapies, connect patients to clinical trials faster, and integrate genomic data into the Single Patient Record by 2028.

Government responsibility for delivering cancer research is shared between the Department of Health and Social Care, with research delivered by the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR), and the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology, with research delivered via UK Research and Innovation, including the Medical Research Council.

The NIHR continues to welcome high-quality applications for research into any aspect of human health and care, including pancreatic cancer.

As well as funding research itself, the Department of Health and Social Care invests significantly in research expertise and capacity, specialist facilities, support services, and collaborations to support and deliver research in England, known as NIHR infrastructure. One example of this is the CRISTAL-APC trial to improve treatment for people living with stage four pancreatic cancer, supported by the NIHR's Cambridge Biomedical Research Centre and Clinical Research Facility.