Cancer: Research

(asked on 25th April 2017) - View Source

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how much funding has been invested by (a) his Department, (b) the National Institute for Health Research and (c) the Medical Research Council in research on (i) bowel, (ii) prostate, (iii) breast, (iv) lung, (v) testicular and (vi) throat cancer in each of the last seven years.


This question was answered on 27th April 2017

During the last seven years, the Department has funded research through its Policy Research Programme (PRP) and the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR). The PRP commissions research to inform the development and implementation of policy, and the Department’s investment in cancer research is mainly through the NIHR.

Spend on research funded directly by NIHR is categorised by Health Research Classification System (HRCS) health categories including ‘cancer’. There are no HRCS health sub-categories such as for bowel cancer and other specific cancer sites and information on total annual NIHR spend on research on specific cancer sites is not held. A figure for total NIHR cancer research spend in 2016/17 is not yet available. Figures for the previous six years are as follows:

£ million

2010/11

100.9

2011/12

104.1

2012/13

133.2

2013/14

129.9

2014/15

134.7

2015/16

142.4

The Medical Research Council (MRC) is an independent research funding body which receives its grant in aid from the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy. MRC expenditure on cancer research includes research into the biology, causes, prevention, diagnosis and treatment of cancer as well as research on outcomes. Figures for MRC cancer research spend are provided below (source: National Cancer Research Institute). Data on spend from 2015 is not currently available.

£ million

2010

107.7

2011

112.1

2012

95.8

2013

79.9

2014

76.2

Information on MRC spend on research on specific cancer sites covering the seven year period requested is not held and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.

Reticulating Splines