Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he is taking to ensure that rare and less common cancers are represented as part of the 100,000 Genomes Project.

The cancers selected for inclusion in the 100,000 Genomes Project are breast, colon, ovarian, prostate and lung cancer. Genomics England will also be recruiting patients with chronic lymphocytic leukaemia in collaboration with existing clinical trials. The Genomics England Science Committee chose these cancers on the basis that they are common and affect a very large number of people in the United Kingdom. The Protocol document for the Project outlines in detail the basis on which the specific cancers and the rare diseases were selected and this will soon be available on Genomics England’s website. Genomics England will be adding other cancers in the future.