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 grant funding for cholangiocarcinoma research.

The Department invests £1.6 billion each year in research through its research delivery arm, the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR). NIHR research expenditure for all cancers was £133 million in 2023/24, reflecting its high priority. These investments are pivotal for informing the efforts to improve cancer prevention, treatment, and outcomes, and include research into cholangiocarcinoma and cancers of the bile duct. An example of a current award is “a single arm pilot study of Brodalumab in the treatment of Primary Sclerosing Cholangitis”, with a total award value of £751,000.

The NIHR funds research in response to proposals received from scientists rather than allocating funding to specific disease areas. The NIHR continues to encourage and welcome funding applications for research into any aspect of human health, including cholangiocarcinoma research. 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 health and care services, value for money, and scientific quality.