Asked by: Baroness Randerson (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government, in the light of the newly established Children and Young People Cancer Task Force, how they will ensure that there is an integrated and coherent strategy between that and the Tessa Jowell Centre of Excellence for Children in child neuro-oncology; how they will ensure that resources are not unnecessarily duplicated; and how their work will be monitored and reported.
Answered by Lord Markham - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department is taking steps to ensure that there is strategic integration and alignment between the newly established Children and Young People Cancer Taskforce and other important cancer initiatives, including the Tessa Jowell Centre of Excellence for Children.
The Children and Young People Cancer Taskforce is intended to be a unifying force, driving progress in the research, detection, diagnosis, and treatment of cancers affecting children and young people. The taskforce will be embedded in the landscape of cancer reform, mapping work already underway, identifying opportunities to go further, and ensuring that commitments are delivered, including those from the NHS Long Term Plan.
A vital part of the taskforce’s work will be to engage with initiatives such as the Tessa Jowell Brain Cancer Mission. The initiative for the Tessa Jowell Centre of Excellence for Children aims to recognise and award paediatric neuro-oncology centres that provide excellent treatment, care and research activities for children with brain tumours, and their families. The programme aims to uncover gaps and best practice through comprehensive data collection and is the first of its kind to understand and assess paediatric brain cancer care across the United Kingdom.
Both the taskforce and the centre will benefit from strategic coordination, senior official engagement and ongoing collaboration to ensure integration, best use of resources, and effective outcomes. While they have different timeframes and scopes, both will be subject to ongoing monitoring and reporting, with ministers being kept informed of progress at every stage.
Asked by: Sweeney, Paul (Scottish Labour - Glasgow)
Question
To ask the Scottish Government what support its Wellbeing Economy, Fair Work and Energy directorates are providing for the life sciences sector to increase research into brain tumours.
Answered by Gray, Neil - Cabinet Secretary for NHS Recovery, Health and Social Care
Public sector support for research and development does not sit within the Wellbeing Economy, Fair Work and Energy portfolio. This support is directed and delivered by the Scottish Funding Council (SFC).
SFC strategic initiatives, such as Alliances for Research Challenges, Innovation Centres, and Research Pools, aim to harness our research and knowledge exchange capabilities across a number of priority areas, including Life Sciences.
The Scottish Government continues to support high-quality research and innovation across Scotland, and has increased the investment in higher education capital to over £350m for 2024-25.
Within the Scottish Government, funding of Health and Care Research comes under the remit of the Chief Scientist Office (CSO). CSO provides funding support through NHS Research Scotland who are currently supporting 13 Brain Tumour Clinical studies with over 190 patients recruited.
Additionally, Scottish Enterprise are an active investor and collaborative partner supporting the life sciences sector.
Mentions:
1: Wishart, Beatrice (LD - Shetland Islands) March is brain tumour awareness month. - Speech Link
2: Yousaf, Humza (SNP - Glasgow Pollok) tumours, the need to be cautious and the need to be conscious of getting support where necessary. - Speech Link
Asked by: Laurence Robertson (Conservative - Tewkesbury)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment she has made of the effectiveness of (a) clinical trials and (b) other treatment options for glioblastoma.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) is the independent body responsible for developing authoritative, evidence-based guidelines for the National Health Service on best practice based on an assessment of clinical and cost effectiveness. NICE keeps its guidelines under review and uses the best available evidence to develop its recommendations. Its surveillance programme proactively explores whether there is any new evidence to contradict, reinforce or clarify its guideline recommendations.
NICE’s guideline on brain tumours and brain metastases in people aged 16 years old or over was most recently updated in 2021 and makes recommendations on the management of grade IV gliomas. The NHS is expected to take NICE guidelines fully into account in ensuring that services meet the needs of their local populations.
In May 2018, the Government announced £40 million for brain tumour research as part of the Tessa Jowell Brain Cancer Mission, through the National Institute for Health and Care Research. This includes funding for glioblastoma research.
Asked by: Anum Qaisar (Scottish National Party - Airdrie and Shotts)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how much funding the Government has made available for research into paediatric brain tumours in each of the last five years.
Answered by Will Quince
The Department invests in health research through the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR). NIHR invests in research, clinical expertise, specialist facilities, workforce, and support services across a range of clinical areas. NIHR expenditure on cancer research was over £101 million in 2021/22.
The Government is committed to funding high-quality brain cancer research. In May 2018 the Government announced £40 million for brain tumour research as part of the Tessa Jowell Brain Cancer Mission through the NIHR. This includes research into paediatric brain tumours.
The £40 million funding will remain available; if we can spend more on the best quality science, we will do. The level of funding for brain tumour research depends on funding applications received. It is worth noting that all applications to NIHR that have been assessed as “fundable” in open competition have been funded and this will continue.
Asked by: Baroness Randerson (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government how much funding they have allocated for research into the treatment of Diffuse Intrinsic Pontine Glioma brain tumours in children in each of the last 10 years; and to which organisations were those funds allocated.
Answered by Lord Markham - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The following table shows eight research studies around Diffuse Intrinsic Pontine Glioma, funded by research funding partners in the charity and public sectors since 2013 which have been supported by the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR):
Study Title | Opening Date | Closure Date | Funders | Status |
Phase I trial of afatinib in paediatric patients with neuroectodermal tumours and rhabdomyosarcoma | 13/07/2015 | 05/05/2020 | Boehringer Ingelheim Ltd | Closed to Recruitment, Follow Up Complete |
A Phase I/II, Multicenter, Open-Label, Dose-Escalation Study of the Safety and Pharmacokinetics of Cobimetinib in Pediatric and Young Adult Patients with Previously Treated Solid Tumors | 25/08/2016 | 31/12/2018 | F. Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd | Closed to Recruitment, In Follow Up |
Biological Medicine for Diffuse Intrinsic Pontine Glioma Eradication (Biomede) | 14/04/2017 | 29/09/2019 | Cancer Research UK | Closed to Recruitment, In Follow Up |
Phase Ib /II Clinical Trial of Nivolumab Monotherapy and Nivolumab in Combination with Ipilimumab in Pediatric Subjects with High Grade Primary CNS Malignancies | 14/08/2017 | 22/02/2019 | Bristol-Myers Squibb International Corporation | Closed to Recruitment, In Follow Up |
A PHASE 2 CLINICAL STUDY OF POMALIDOMIDE (CC-4047) MONOTHERAPY FOR CHILDREN AND YOUNG ADULTS WITH RECURRENT OR PROGRESSIVE PRIMARY BRAIN TUMORS | 17/10/2017 | 27/09/2018 | CELGENE CORPORATION | Closed to Recruitment, In Follow Up |
A Phase 1/2, Single-arm Study to Evaluate the Safety, Pharmacokinetics, and Antitumor Activity of Avapritinib in Pediatric Patients with Solid Tumors Dependent on KIT or PDGFRA Signaling | 15/02/2023 | 31/01/2025 | Blueprint Medicines Corporation | Suspended |
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*** Please note that the 2 commercial studies, due to the commercial sensitivity, cannot be shared more widely or made public.
NIHR provides infrastructure support to studies taking place in the National Health Service. For example, staff, research nurses, local networks and NHS trusts will work across many studies, to varying degrees. As a result, NIHR cannot provide precise information on expenditure.
The NIHR Clinical Research Network supports the delivery of high-quality research across the NHS, community and social care and public health organisations. It does this by meeting the costs of additional staff, facilities, equipment and support services.
In May 2018 the Government announced £40 million for brain tumour research as part of the Tessa Jowell Brain Cancer Mission. The Government is committed to funding high-quality brain cancer research. The £40 million funding remains available.
Asked by: Baroness Hayter of Kentish Town (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the report by the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Brain Tumours, Pathway to a Cure – breaking down the barriers, published on 28 February 2023, what is the expected timescale to develop a strategy for adequately resourcing discovery, translational and clinical research into brain tumours as recommended by the report; and whether they will commit to ring fencing the recommended £110 million for this resourcing.
Answered by Lord Markham - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department of Health and Social Care welcomes the All-Party Parliamentary Group report, recommendations of which continue to be worked through with the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology, UK Research and Innovation and the Medical Research Council (MRC), and with the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR).
The report recommended action by the research funding agencies on coordinating activities and making funding available. We are taking steps to ensure that funders work closely together to coordinate work along the translational pathway, from the discovery and early translational science typically supported by the MRC, feeding through to the applied health and care research funded by the NIHR.
It is not usual practice to ring-fence funds for particular topics or conditions. As with other Government funders of health research, the NIHR does not allocate funding for specific disease areas. The level of research spend in a particular area is driven by factors including scientific potential and the number and scale of successful funding applications.
Mentions:
1: Siobhain McDonagh (LAB - Mitcham and Morden) And the biggest insight I have gained is this: the treatment of brain tumours in the NHS has not improved - Speech Link
2: Marcus Jones (CON - Nuneaton) There is a long way to go on the treatment and diagnosis of brain tumours. I know that the hon. - Speech Link
Asked by: Paul Blomfield (Labour - Sheffield Central)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent steps his Department has taken to improve diagnosis times for those affected by brain tumours.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department has taken steps to significantly invest in diagnostics through additional funding for Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) and Computed Tomography capacity across all National Health Service healthcare settings over this Spending Review period. This includes the acceleration of the Community Diagnostic Centres programme which will further release imaging capacity to reduce the waiting times for all patients including patients with clinical indication of a brain tumour. There has also been investment in MRI Acceleration technology which will improve the daily throughput per upgraded MRI scanner by reducing the scan times required per patient and improve the patient experience by reducing the scan times for patients.
Improvements to GP Direct Access pathways will support general practitioners referring directly for MRI brain scans, where they have concerns about symptoms that could indicate an incidental finding of a brain tumour. In addition, all patients referred for an imaging diagnostic scan with the clinical indication of cancer/tumour would be treated as an urgent cancer referral. These referrals are triaged, appointed and reported within two weeks of referral.