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 help improve the (a) research on, (b) diagnosis of and (c) treatment for acute myeloid leukaemia.

Research is crucial in tackling cancer, which is why the Department invests £1.6 billion each year on research through its research delivery arm, the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR), with cancer being the largest area of spend at over £133 million in 2023/24, reflecting its high priority. Examples of NIHR investments in blood cancer research include:

• the £2.6 million PROPEL trial, testing whether a package of enhanced personalised prehabilitation can help people with acute myeloid leukaemia cope better with treatment;
• a £2.2 million trial exploring methods to reduce secondary infections as a result of acute myeloid leukaemia, with the aim of reducing the side effects of treatment and improving quality of life for patients during and after; and
• a £3 million trial of the drug ibrutinib for the treatment of chronic lymphocytic leukaemia, and a £2.2 million study to evaluate the digital health platform AscelusTM, for the management of blood disorders including cancers, funded by the NIHR in partnership with the Offices for Life Sciences.

The NIHR continues to welcome high quality funding applications for research into any aspect of human health and care, including acute myeloid leukaemia.

Improving diagnosis rates and access to treatment are key priorities for the Government for all cancer types. To achieve this, the National Health Service is 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 NHS has delivered 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.

Additionally, the recently announced National Cancer Plan, which will complement the 10-Year Health Plan and support delivery of the Government’s Health Mission, will set out further actions to improve research, diagnosis, and treatment for cancer, including acute myeloid leukaemia.