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 improve early diagnosis of pancreatic cancer, and whether he is supporting the development of new scanning technologies or screening methods to detect pancreatic cancer at an earlier, more treatable stage.

The Government is committed to improving outcomes for people affected by pancreatic cancer through earlier diagnosis, faster treatment and increased access to innovation. The National Cancer Plan for England identifies earlier diagnosis as a key priority and sets out actions to expand diagnostic capacity, improve access to tests and scans, and reduce the number of cancers diagnosed through emergency presentation.

Non-specific symptom pathways have been achieved across England, providing a route to diagnosis for patients whose symptoms may indicate cancer but do not align with a specific tumour type, which is particularly important for pancreatic cancer, where symptoms are often non-specific.

NHS England is supporting earlier diagnosis of pancreatic cancer by providing a route into surveillance programmes for people at inherited high risk, to help identify disease before it develops or at an earlier stage. In addition, NHS England is increasing direct access for general practitioners to diagnostic tests and developing faster referral routes for patients with non-specific symptoms.

The government is supporting the development and evaluation of innovative diagnostic technologies. Through the NHS Cancer Innovation Open Call, the Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust was awarded funding to assess the feasibility of Guardant360, a multi-cancer liquid biopsy test, within pancreatic and biliary tract cancer pathways across seven NHS trusts.

The Department invests approximately £1.8 billion each year in research through the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR). Cancer is a major area of NIHR spending, with £141.6 million invested in 2024/25. For example, NIHR-funded research is exploring how artificial intelligence can be used to improve the diagnosis of pancreatic cancer and reduce instances of missed cancer diagnoses.

The UK National Screening Committee keeps evidence for cancer screening programmes under review. Any future decisions on pancreatic cancer screening would be informed by the available evidence on clinical effectiveness and population benefit.