Asked by: Anneliese Dodds (Labour (Co-op) - Oxford East)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to monitor trends in the level of (a) breast cancer caused by shift work and (b) ovarian cancer caused by asbestos.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
No assessment has been made of these trends. While NHS Digital collects data on the prevalence of breast and ovarian cancer, it is not possible to determine whether these cancers are caused by shift work and asbestos. Hospital episode statistics do not record patients’ career or workplace and the codes used to identify groups of chemicals or noxious substances as the cause of a specific condition do not separately identify asbestos.
Asked by: Sharon Hodgson (Labour - Washington and Sunderland West)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that all women diagnosed with ovarian cancer are able to access the best possible treatment.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
As part of the NHS Long Term Plan, the Department and NHS England and NHS Improvement are aiming to offer personalised care to all cancer patients, providing greater choice and control on how their care is planned and delivered.
NHS England and NHS Improvement are commissioning a clinical audit into ovarian cancer to understand any variations in care, improve access to treatments and ensure the greatest impact on patient outcomes. NHS England and NHS Improvement’s Cancer Quality of Life Survey collates information from patients on their quality of life and assist cancer teams to improve cancer care and outcomes.
Asked by: Sharon Hodgson (Labour - Washington and Sunderland West)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the importance of a shortened referral pathway for ovarian cancer where a CA125 blood test and ultrasound are carried out at the same time.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
The National Health Service is considering the most effective use of diagnostic testing, including the use of CA125 blood test and ultrasound early in the suspected ovarian cancer pathway.
Asked by: Virendra Sharma (Labour - Ealing, Southall)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to improve awareness of ovarian cancer symptoms during Gynaecological Cancer Awareness Month in September.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
While no specific ovarian cancer awareness campaigns were run as part of Gynaecological Cancer Awareness Month, NHS England and NHS Improvement and Public Health England launched the latest ‘Help us, help you’ campaign targeting abdominal symptoms of cancer in August 2021. This includes bloating or discomfort for three weeks or more, as this could be a sign of ovarian cancer.
Asked by: Lord Browne of Belmont (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what recent progress they have made in ensuring equality in cancer treatment across England.
Answered by Lord Bethell
Reducing unwarranted variation in cancer treatment and outcomes is a strategic priority for the National Health Service Cancer Programme. To support cancer services and target local and national actions for improvement, monthly equality data showing first treatment rates by ethnicity, deprivation, sex and age is directly informing the restoration and recovery of cancer services. This includes targeted messaging in the national ‘Help us help you’ campaign to support people coming forward with symptoms indicative of cancer to their general practitioner. In May 2021, urgent general practitioner referrals were 14% higher than in May 2019.
NHS England and NHS Improvement have put in place single national commissioning arrangements for a number of cancer treatments to mitigate the risk of unwarranted variation in terms of access and clinical outcomes. Audits are currently being carried out for lung, bowel, prostate and oesophageal cancers and for breast cancer in older people to drive improvements in care and ensure equity. Five new clinical audits will be commissioned for ovarian, pancreatic, non-hodgkin lymphoma, kidney and metastatic breast cancer to ensure that care is being provided in line with standards and reduce variations.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he has had discussions with relevant stakeholders on the potential merits of emerging treatments from AstraZeneca for ovarian and kidney cancer being made available through the NHS.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Ministers and officials regularly discuss emerging treatments with a range of organisations.
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) is the independent body which makes evidence-based recommendations for the National Health Service on whether medicines represent a clinically and cost-effective use of resources. NICE assesses all new cancer medicines and is committed to publishing draft guidance at the time of licensing, with final guidance published within three months of licensing wherever possible.
Asked by: Gregory Campbell (Democratic Unionist Party - East Londonderry)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when NICE plans to publish the outcome of its assessment of the effectiveness of Niraparib for maintenance treatment of advanced ovarian, fallopian tube and peritoneal cancer.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
In February 2021, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence issued final guidance that recommends niraparib for use within the Cancer Drugs Fund (CDF) for the maintenance treatment of advanced ovarian, fallopian tube and peritoneal cancer after response to first-line platinum-based chemotherapy. Niraparib is now available to eligible National Health Service patients in England through the CDF in line with this recommendation.
Asked by: Bim Afolami (Conservative - Hitchin and Harpenden)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether the Government plans to continue Public Health England's abdominal cancer symptoms awareness campaign that included the ovarian cancer symptom of bloating.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Evaluation of the latest national campaign on abdominal cancer symptoms which ran between November 2020 and January 2021 is currently underway.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans he has to make niraparib available through the NHS for treatment of ovarian cancer.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
In July 2018, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) published guidance on niraparib. NICE recommended niraparib for use within the Cancer Drugs Fund (CDF) as an option for treating relapsed, platinum-sensitive high-grade serious epithelial ovarian, fallopian tube or primary peritoneal cancer, that has responded to the most recent course of platinum-based chemotherapy in adults who have had two or more courses of platinum-based chemotherapy. Niraparib is now available to National Health Service patients through the CDF in line with this guidance.
In addition, NICE issued final draft guidance in January 2021 that recommends niraparib for use within the CDF for the maintenance treatment of advanced ovarian, fallopian tube and peritoneal cancer after response to first-line platinum-based chemotherapy. Niraparib is funded through the CDF for eligible patients in line with NICE’s final draft recommendations.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what discussions he has with (a) the Royal College of Nursing and (b) other relevant bodies on potential links between ovarian cancer and the start of menopause.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
No discussions with the Royal College of Nursing, or other organisations, have taken place regarding the link between ovarian cancer and the start of the menopause.
Research suggests women with ovarian cancer may experience early menopause due to disease infiltration of the ovaries or because of the surgery or adjuvant therapy that they need to have to remove the cancer.
Women are advised to contact their general practice if they have any symptoms or concerns.