Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of the level of funding allocated by his Department for research and innovation for (a) less survivable and (b) other cancers.

The Department invests over £1.6 billion each year on research through its research delivery arm, the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR), with cancer as one of its largest areas of spend reflecting its high priority.

An example of this is the NIHR investing £2.4 million into the miONCO-Dx trial, which seeks to develop a blood test designed to detect 12 different cancers, that could transform how cancer is diagnosed in the National Health Service.

The NIHR is also funding a new artificial intelligence (AI) powered radiology analysis service, designed to develop and evaluate the use of AI in medical imaging to improve the detection of cancers. The use of this technology will help to speed up response times and provide more accurate diagnoses and better-targeted treatments, ultimately improving outcomes for patients.

Whist no assessment has been made specifically on the adequacy of the research into less survivable cancers, the NIHR continues to welcome further high-quality proposals from researchers to inform approaches to prevention, treatment, and care in relation to less survivable cancers.

Furthermore, the Department is committed to ensuring that all patients, including those with rare cancers, have access to cutting-edge clinical trials and innovative, lifesaving treatments. The forthcoming National Cancer Plan will include further details on how the NHS will improve diagnosis and outcomes for all cancer patients in England, including for rare and less common cancers.