Pancreatic Cancer

Jonathan Reynolds Excerpts

Monday 8th September 2014 Westminster Hall

[Jonathan Reynolds]

I am grateful to you, Mr Chope, for giving me the opportunity to speak in this important debate. I add my thanks to the hon. Member for Lancaster and Fleetwood (Eric Ollerenshaw) and my hon. Friend the Member for Scunthorpe (Nic Dakin) for securing it. We heard two excellent and personal speeches from them both. I echo the kind words from my hon. Friend and those from my hon. Friend the Member for Worsley and Eccles South (Barbara Keeley) about Julie Hesmondhalgh and her role in this. I am proud to say that Julie is one of my constituents. I hope that the hon. Member for Lancaster and Fleetwood will not mind me saying that another important constituent is his mum. I think we all agree that she should be very proud of his speech and the part he has played in the campaign.

This is a hugely important topic, about which there has been great public concern, as evidenced by the e-petition calling for more awareness and funding having reached more than 100,000 signatures. My awareness of pancreatic cancer has substantially increased due to the effectiveness of the campaign. I have been shocked at the information the campaign has highlighted, particularly about mortality rates, and I am pleased that we have the chance to discuss this issue today.

As we have heard, the threat posed by pancreatic cancer could not be starker. It is the fifth leading cause of cancer deaths in this country and, worryingly, has the worst survival rate of all cancers. Despite that, it receives only 1% of research spending, and that figure has jumped out at many of us when we have been approached by constituents, yet the survival rate has been just 3% over five years, having not improved in more than 40 years. I was staggered to learn that, especially as the cancer mortality rate overall between 1996 and 2008 fell by 19%. The statistic is terrible on its own, but even more worrying in that context.

As a result, I have several concerns, which other hon. Members share and which I want to raise today. However, first, I want to pay tribute to my constituent, Mrs Jan Lord, who was brave enough to share with me her personal experience of losing her mother to pancreatic cancer. Jan’s mother had been complaining of bowel and back problems for months before she sadly passed away in September 2012 from pancreatic cancer. She had been told by her GP and hospital doctors that her mother’s deterioration was due to irritable bowel syndrome or perhaps just old age. Her mother was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer just five weeks before her death, and Mrs Lord believes that that diagnosis was reached only when she had pressed doctors to investigate further her mother’s failing health. That is a very sad story to hear, especially when we consider that with greater awareness and understanding, things could have been different. I am sure that everyone present today can sympathise and has heard similar heartbreaking stories from their constituents. I hope that there is some comfort in the fact that many of the families affected by such stories have been the ones behind this campaign to raise awareness, and they should be very proud of what they have achieved.

I want to bring up some specific issues that I hope the Minister will address in her closing remarks—of course, they are similar to those we have heard in other speeches. The first is that lack of research spending, or, more accurately, that lack of research spend. As I have mentioned, the pancreatic cancer research field currently receives only 1% of all cancer research spend, and we have to find a way to improve the amount of research occurring. The urgency for that is paramount. More research will lead to earlier diagnosis, which is crucial, especially because earlier diagnosis means a greater likelihood of being able to operate. I understand that, at present, only 10% of people diagnosed are offered surgery as a solution.

Early diagnosis will also mean that we are able to run more clinical trials and improve the data we possess. Those two things are clearly related. I was present at the meeting last week of the APPG on pancreatic cancer, where that subject was raised. It was an incredibly useful and insightful meeting. An argument was put forward about the need to improve the way in which we record and use patient data, making them available far sooner—in fact, almost as soon as the patient interaction occurs—to improve our understanding of what might be successful. The arguments were so compelling that they have made me substantially rethink how I feel about patient data and how they can be used in future.

I would be interested to hear what the Government believe is necessary to develop better screening tests. The analogy given at the APPG was that we are currently asking a GP to sit on a motorway bridge on the M1 and spot a car that passes only once every three years. Clearly, we need to give GPs more support, and I hope that the Minister will express a willingness to do so. In our system, the GP is the gatekeeper; they are the first port of call for a patient, and we have to recognise that we are asking something very difficult of them. However, research shows that knowledge of linking pancreatic cancer symptoms to the disease is often low and that diagnosis is often missed, which is perhaps not surprising given the lack of research and that many similar but less deadly ailments have comparable symptoms. GPs do an excellent job—I hope they do not think we are having a go at them—but they clearly need more help in this area. To go back to the comments at the APPG, we need to find a way to put some cameras on the M1 bridge to help them spot that car going past.

My hon. Friends in the shadow health team are looking at how best to improve cancer diagnosis, treatment, research and outcomes across a range of cancers. I was cheered by the shadow Secretary of State for Health, my right hon. Friend the Member for Leigh (Andy Burnham), saying that improving cancer outcomes would be a priority for us, and I believe that we will see a cross-party agreement on that in future.

To conclude, I want to pay tribute again to the hon. Members who secured the debate and to the remarkable campaign behind it. I also want to thank again my constituent, Jan Lord, for her campaigning and the courage she has shown in highlighting the need for more to be done to tackle pancreatic cancer. I believe that it has shown that not enough is happening at the moment and I intend to take a close interest in this area now that I am aware of just how great the need is. I look forward to the Minister’s response, and I hope that the Government also see this as a priority in future.