Brain: Tumours
(asked on 8th September 2016) - View Source
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how much Government funding has been made available for research into paediatric brain tumours in each year since 2005.
Spend on research funded directly by the Department’s National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) is categorised by Health Research Classification System (HRCS) health categories including ‘cancer’. There are no HRCS health sub-categories such as for brain tumours and information on total annual NIHR spend on brain tumour research (or on paediatric brain tumour research) is not held.
The NIHR welcomes funding applications for research into any aspect of human health, including brain tumours. 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 health and care services, value for money and scientific quality. In all disease areas, the amount of NIHR funding depends on the volume and quality of scientific activity.
The Government agrees that an increase in the level of research into brain tumours is crucial in order to achieve better outcomes for patients and their families who are affected by these devastating diseases. A new Department of Health Task and Finish Working Group on Brain Tumour Research will be bringing together clinicians, charities and officials to discuss how, working together with research funding partners, we can address the need to increase the level and impact of research into brain tumours. The Working Group will be chaired by Professor Chris Whitty, the Department’s Chief Scientific Adviser. It will first meet on 18 October and the Government anticipates that it will complete its tasks by September 2017.
The Medical Research Council (MRC) is one of the main agencies through which the Government supports medical and clinical research. It is an independent research funding body which receives its grant in aid from the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy.
The MRC’s portfolio of brain tumour research includes brain and pituitary tumours. A breakdown is provided below.
Year | Brain and Pituitary Tumour Research (£ million) | Of which Brain Tumours (£ million) | Of which Pituitary Tumours (£ million) |
2005/06 | £1.08 | £0.29 | £0.79 |
2006/07 | £1.22 | £0.57 | £0.64 |
2007/08 | £1.18 | £0.54 | £0.64 |
2008/09 | £1.37 | £0.70 | £0.67 |
2009/10 | £1.66 | £0.87 | £0.79 |
2010/11 | £1.75 | £0.86 | £0.90 |
2011/12 | £1.61 | £1.60 | £0 |
2012/13 | £2.16 | £2.16 | £0 |
2013/14 | £2.56 | £2.56 | £0 |
2014/15 | £2.82 | £2.64 | £0.18 |
To provide context, in 2014 the MRC’s overall expenditure on cancer research was £76.2 million (calendar year figure, source: National Cancer Research Institute). This figure includes a broad portfolio of site-specific and general underpinning cancer research, some of which will be relevant to research on brain and pituitary cancers as it is often the case that research relevant to one site may also have implications for other forms of cancer.
The MRC does not normally analyse the brain and pituitary research portfolio to identify research into paediatric cancers, but when this was done last (in 2012) the MRC’s analysis showed that paediatric cancer made up between 6 and 16% of the in-year research spend. Research in the broader brain and pituitary research portfolio may also help to improve our understanding of paediatric brain and pituitary cancers and inform future research and potential treatments.