Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how much and what proportion of his Department's funding for cancer research has been allocated to (a) brain, (b) liver, (c) lung, (d) oesophageal, (e) pancreatic and (f) stomach cancer research since 2022.
The Department invested over £133 million on cancer research for 2023/24, through its research delivery arm, the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR), reflecting cancer’s high priority.
The following table shows NIHR funding programme awards allocated for cancer research between April 2022 and March 2025:
Cancer type | Total Funding |
Bladder | £3.0 million |
Brain Other CNS & Intracranial Tumours | £0.6 million |
Liver | £2.6 million |
Lung | £16 million |
Oesophagus | £9.4 million |
Pancreas | £0.9 million |
Stomach | £3.3 million |
Source: NIHR
Notes: This table includes new research programme funding awards made during this period. It does not include additional studies that have had funding approved but remain in the contracting process. It does not include NIHR infrastructure support for research given this information is not currently available for all tumour types included, or ongoing spending on existing research.
The Government recognises the crucial need for research into all forms of cancer and remain committed to the role of research to improve outcomes for patients. The NIHR continues to encourage and welcome applications for research into any aspect of human health and care, including cancer.