Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government which bodies hold data on (1) molecular characteristics and actionable mutations in brain cancers, (2) treatment matching, (3) clinical trial matching, and (4) patient outcomes; whether those data permit assessment of the relationship between molecular diagnosis, treatment or trial matching, and subsequent outcomes; and, if not, on what evidence Ministers assess whether molecularly driven and grade-agnostic approaches are being successfully implemented.

Responsibility for the delivery of cancer services and the achievement of cancer outcomes sits with NHS England and local National Health Service organisations. The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) and its research partners support the evidence base, while NHS England is responsible for service delivery and improvement. Government responsibility for delivering cancer research is shared between DHSC, with research delivered by the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR), and the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology, with research delivered via UK Research and Innovation.

The DHSC holds data on participation in brain tumour research studies on the NIHR Research Delivery Network portfolio but does not hold data on participation in international trials. On the other data requests contained in the Noble Lord’s questions, I refer him to the answer provided in the House of Lords on 14 September in response to Question HL3172, which, for ease of reference, is reproduced below:

“I refer the Noble Lord Hunt to the answers provided on 15 July in response to Question HL1677 and 16 July in response to Question HL1674. Further to the answer provided on 15 July in response to Question HL1677, over eight years, from 2018/19 to 2025/26, UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) committed £66.3 million to brain tumour research. UKRI also supported 93 studentships over this period. All associated work packages for the National Institute for Health and Care Research Brain Tumour Research Consortium have now been fully executed. The information requested is not held by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency. Information on trials supported through the Cancer Vaccine Launch Pad (CVLP) can be found on their website. The platform is designed to be company and clinical trial agnostic so any company can contact the CVLP to explore how the platform can support their research. Other information is not available as it is not held in the format requested or is not held centrally.”