Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to page 10 of the report by Cancer Research UK entitled Cancer in the UK 2025: Socioeconomic Deprivation, published in February 2025, what steps he is taking to increase the 5-year net survival rate for lung cancer.

We welcome Cancer Research UK’s report on socioeconomic deprivation and will consider its findings as we develop a new National Cancer Plan. As part of this, my Department is working closely with individuals, professionals and organisations, including Cancer Research UK, to improve outcomes and address inequalities.

To diagnose lung cancer earlier and boost survival rates, we are rolling out a national Lung Cancer Screening Programme, targeted at those aged between 55 and 74 years old with a history of smoking. This has led to over 3,000 more lung cancers being diagnosed at an early stage, with the biggest gains in early diagnosis rates among those living in the most deprived areas. We will build on these recent successes with the further roll out of the Lung Cancer Screening Programme.

NHS England’s Core20PLUS5 approach informs current action to reduce healthcare inequalities, including in early cancer diagnosis. To achieve this, we are improving public awareness of cancer signs and symptoms, streamlining referral routes, and increasing the availability of diagnostic capacity through the roll-out of more community diagnostic centres. In addition, the National Health Service is now delivering an extra 40,000 operations, scans, and appointments each week, during our first year in government as the first step to ensuring early diagnosis and faster treatment.