Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will take steps to increase the five-year survival rate of Acute Myeloid Leukaemia, from 22% to 44%.

The Department is committed to improving survival rates for all blood cancers, including acute myeloid leukaemia. Raising awareness, delivering more research, including into new treatments, and improving early diagnosis of cancers, which includes blood related cancers such as leukaemia, are crucial for improving cancer survival.

NHS England has implemented non symptom specific pathways for patients who present with non-specific symptoms or combinations thereof that can indicate several different cancers. This includes leukaemia, which can present non-specific symptoms, such as unexpected weight loss and night sweats. The national evaluation showed that blood cancers are one of the most common cancer types diagnosed through these pathways.

The National Cancer Plan will include further details on how we will improve outcomes for cancer patients, including those with acute myeloid leukaemia and other cancers with lower survival rates. We are now in discussions about what form that plan should take, and what its relationship to the 10-Year Health Plan and the Government’s wider Health Mission should be, and will provide updates in due course.