Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he is taking to increase the amount of research undertaken into ways to detect the origin of primary cancer in those suffering from cancer of the unknown primary.

Research infrastructure funded by the Department's National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) is currently hosting the following study:

A multi-centre phase II trial to assess the efficacy of epirubicin, cisplatin and capecitabine in carcinomas of unknown primary: incorporating the prospective validation of molecular classifiers in diagnosis and classification and exploratory metabonomics.

Overall NIHR investment in cancer research increased from £102 million in 2009-10 to £133 million in 2012-13. The NIHR welcomes funding applications for research into any aspect of human health, including cancer of unknown primary. These applications are subject to peer review and judged in open competition, with awards being made on the basis of the importance of the topic to patients and the National Health Service, value for money and scientific quality.