Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of allocating funding for the use of Optune, tumour treating fields therapy, in the NHS.

The National Institute of Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guidelines are evidence-based recommendations for health and social care professionals in England. The guidelines are developed by experts based on a thorough assessment of the available evidence and extensive engagement with interested parties. They represent best practice and should be taken fully into account in the care and treatment of individual patients.

Optune has been considered by the NICE clinical guidelines programme. In its guideline on brain tumours (primary) and brain metastases in adults, the NICE recommended that tumour-treating fields should not be offered as part of management of a newly diagnosed grade IV glioma (glioblastoma) or as part of management of recurrent high-grade glioma.