Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government whether they are funding research into finding a cure for mesothelioma.

Research is crucial in the fight against cancer. That is why the Department invests £1 billion per year in health research through the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR). NIHR research expenditure for all cancers was over £101 million for 2021/22.

NIHR funded the following research programmes, totalling approximately £3 million, since 2018:

- A double blind, placebo-controlled, randomized phase II study of Pemetrexed and Cisplatin with and without Ruxolitinib in Malignant Pleural Mesothelioma;

- Mesothelioma and Radical Surgery 2: a multicentre randomised trial comparing (extended) pleurectomy decortication versus no (extended) pleurectomy decortication for patients with malignant pleural mesothelioma (MARS 2);

- Nivolumab with ipilimumab for untreated unresectable malignant pleural mesothelioma [ID1609];

- Treating mesothelioma with Intra-pleural Lipoteichoic acid (the TILT Trial): A feasibility study using the ‘Trial within a Cohort’ methodology;

- Developing a short-term integrated rehabilitation service for people with newly diagnosed thoracic cancer;

- Randomised controlled trial to compare the diagnostic yield of Positron Emission Tomography Computerised Tomography (PET-CT) guided pleural biopsy versus CT-guided pleural biopsy in suspected pleural malignancy (PET-biopsy trial);

- Zoledronic acid in the management of malignant pleural mesothelioma - a feasibility study (Zol-A Study); and

- MesoTRAP: A feasibility study comparing video-assisted thoracoscopic partial pleurectomy/decortication with indwelling pleural catheter in patients with trapped lung and pleural effusion due to malignant pleural mesothelioma designed to address recruitment and randomisation uncertainties and sample size requirements for a phase III trial.

The NIHR is also supporting delivery in the health and care system of over 50 mesothelioma research studies funded by research funding partners in the charity and public sectors since 2018.

The NIHR welcomes funding applications for research into any aspect of human health, including research into mesothelioma. As with other Government funders of health research, the NIHR does not allocate funding for specific disease areas. Applications are subject to peer review and judged in open competition, with awards being made based on the importance of the topic to patients and health and care services, value for money and scientific quality.