Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to meet Brain Cancer Justice.

Reducing the number of lives lost to cancer is a key aim of the National Cancer Plan for England, which will be published later this year. The plan will include further details on how the Government will improve outcomes for cancer patients, including brain cancer patients, as well as speeding up diagnosis and treatment, ensuring patients have access to the latest treatments and technology, and ultimately driving up this country’s cancer survival rates.

The Department is committed to working closely with partners and patient groups to shape the long-term vision for cancer. On 4 February 2025, the Department launched a call for evidence for the National Cancer Plan which closed on 29 April. We have received over 11,000 responses from individuals, professionals, and organisations who have shared their views on how we can do more to achieve our ambition, including several brain cancer charities. The call for evidence gave an opportunity to all partners to shape the National Cancer Plan. These submissions are being used to inform our plan to improve cancer care.

The Department recognises that cancer patients, including those with brain tumours, are often waiting too long for referral and treatment. As the first step to ensuring early diagnosis and treatment, NHS England has delivered an extra 40,000 operations, scans, and appointments each week since the start of this administration.

The Department is supporting NHS England in implementing genomic testing, including whole genome sequencing (WGS), in the National Health Service, provided through the NHS Genomic Medicine Service, and delivered by a national genomic testing network of seven NHS Genomic Laboratory Hubs (GLHs). The NHS GLHs deliver testing as directed by the National Genomic Test Directory, which includes tests for over 200 cancer clinical indications, including WGS tests for a range of brain tumours. The NHS now offers all children and young people with cancer, and adults with certain cancers including brain cancer, whole genome sequencing to enable more comprehensive and precise diagnosis, and access to more personalised treatments.

The Department recognises that there are currently limited treatment options available for people who have been diagnosed with brain tumours, and the significant impact that rarer forms of cancer can have on patients, carers, and their families. A new national Brain Tumour Research Consortium was established in December 2024 to bring together researchers from a range of different disciplines and institutions with the aim of driving scientific advancements in how to prevent, detect, manage, and treat cancers in adults and children. The work being undertaken by the consortium aims to ensure that patients have access to the latest treatments and technology and to clinical trials. This will make a significant contribution to bringing the United Kingdom’s cancer survival rates back up to the standards of the best in the world. The following table shows brain cancer five-year survival percentages for adults, those aged 15 to 99 years old, diagnosed from 2010 to 2014, by G7 country:

Source: CONCORD-3, CONCORD Programme, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.

This data will be updated with the publication of CONCORD-4, which is currently in progress.