Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what funding his Department has allocated for research into pancreatic cancer in the most recent period for which figures are available.

The Department is fully committed to clinical and applied research into cancer prevention, diagnosis and treatment. The Department's National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) welcomes funding applications for research into any aspect of human health, including pancreatic cancer. These applications are subject to peer review and judged in open competition, with awards being made on the basis of the importance of the topic to patients and the National Health Service, value for money and scientific quality.

The National Cancer Research Institute (NCRI) is a United Kingdom-wide partnership between the Government, charity and industry which promotes co-operation in cancer research among the 22 member organisations. An analysis of spend data submitted by NCRI partners covering the period from 2002 to 2011 is available on the NCRI website at:

www.ncri.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/2013-NCRI-Cancer-research-spend-in-the-UK-2002-2011_data-package.xlsx

This analysis includes data for all cancer research, for site-specific research and for individual sites including pancreatic cancer. Between 2002 and 2011, the proportion of site-specific funding spent on pancreatic cancer research almost doubled.

In August 2011, the Government announced £800 million investment over five years in a series of NIHR Biomedical Research Centres and Units, including £61.5 million funding for the Royal Marsden/Institute of Cancer Research Biomedical Research Centre, and £6.5 million funding for the Liverpool Biomedical Research Unit in gastrointestinal disease (which has a major focus on pancreatic cancer). Some research they conduct is relevant to multiple cancer sites.

The UK Clinical Research Network Portfolio Database currently has 15 studies in pancreatic cancer listed.