Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to ensure appropriate funding is allocated for (a) early diagnosis and (b) effective monitoring of invasive lobular carcinoma; and what funding is allocated for the (i) development and (ii) availability of treatments for that disease.

Improving early diagnosis of cancer, including lobular breast cancer, is a priority for the Government. There are multiple National Health Service initiatives and funding streams across the NHS in England that support the early detection of breast cancer.

NHS England and other NHS organisations, nationally and locally, invest in publishing information on the signs and symptoms of many different types of cancer, including lobular breast cancer, through the Help Us Help You campaigns.

The Department spends £1.6 billion each year on research through its research delivery arm, the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR), with cancer being one of the largest areas of spend at £133 million in 2023/24, reflecting its high priority. The NIHR continues to welcome funding applications for research into any aspect of human health and care, including the treatment of lobular carcinoma.

The Office for Life Sciences’ Cancer Healthcare Goals programme aims to accelerate the development and commercialisation of a new generation of cancer diagnostics and therapeutics. The programme, however, does not ringfence funding, or run funding programmes specific to cancer types.

Following publication of the 10-Year Health Plan later this year, we will publish our National Cancer Plan. The cancer plan will include more details about how to improve outcomes for all tumour types through earlier diagnosis of cancer.