Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how much of the Cancer Drugs Fund was spent on pancreatic cancer drugs in each year since 2010.

NHS England has advised that there is currently one anti-cancer therapy available through the Cancer Drugs Fund that is used in pancreatic cancers. This is Abraxane (albumin bound paclitaxel).

NHS England has estimated that, since Abraxane was added to the national Cancer Drugs Fund list in March 2014, the estimated spend in that financial year was approximately £13,000.

Based on current application rates for this drug, NHS England estimates that approximately £4.09 million will be spent on this drug in 2014-15.

Prior to April 2013, information on the indication for which a cancer drug was provided through the Fund was not collected.