Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he will take in the forthcoming National Cancer Plan to improve diagnosis and treatment for penile cancer.

Reducing the number of lives lost to cancer, including penile cancer, is a key aim of the National Cancer Plan. The plan will be published early this year. It will include further details on how we will improve outcomes for patients with cancer, 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. This will benefit all cancer patients, including penile cancer patients.

The Government supports Scott Arthur’s Private Members Bill on rare cancers which will make it easier for clinical trials into rare cancers, including penile cancer patients, to take place in England by ensuring the patient population can be easily contacted by researchers. This will ensure that the National Health Service will remain at the forefront of medical innovation and is able to provide patients with the newest, most effective treatment options, and ultimately boost survival rates.