Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps she is taking to help improve the treatment of Invasive Lobular Breast Cancer.

The Department, and NHS England have taken steps to improve the treatment of invasive lobular breast cancer (ILBC) but are aware that more needs to be done. In September 2022, the National Cancer Audit Collaborating Centre announced funding from NHS England and the Welsh Government of £5.4 million to support delivery of six new national cancer audits. Two of these focus on breast cancer, one on primary and one on metastatic, and include ILBC.

Additionally, the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) supports breast cancer research funded by research partners in the charity and public sectors. For example, over the last five years, the NIHR Clinical Research Network has supported 10 ILBC-related studies.

The Department and NHS England continue to work closely with research funding partners such as Cancer Research UK, the Medical Research Council, and cancer charities who fund research into new scientific discoveries.

The Department urges researchers working on ILBC to submit bids for NIHR funding, including applications to fund the United Kingdom arms of international studies.