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 with (a) UK Research and Innovation and (b) the National Institute for Health and Care Research to prioritise further research into early diagnosis of (i) pancreatic cancer and (ii) other less survivable cancers.

The Department of Health and Social Care invests over £1.6 billion each year on research through its research delivery arm, the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR). Government responsibility for funding cancer research is shared between UK Research and Innovation, funded by the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology and including the Medical Research Council, and the NIHR. Research funders work closely to drive the maximum collective research impact on policy, practice, and individual lives.

NIHR investments are pivotal to informing efforts to improve cancer prevention, treatment, and outcomes. 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 continues to welcome funding applications for research into any aspect of human health and care, including all cancers. 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. Welcoming applications on all cancers to all NIHR programmes enables maximum flexibility both in terms of the amount of research funding a particular area can be awarded, and the type of research which can be funded.

The forthcoming National Cancer Plan will include further details on how the NHS will improve diagnosis and outcomes for cancer patients in England.