Erewash MP has welcome news of a new £45
million partnership between the Department of Health and Social
Care and Cancer Research UK, which is set to revolutionise Brain
tumour research in the UK.
£20 million of Government funding will be invested through
the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) over the next
five years, which will kick-start a formal call to the research
community encouraging teams to put forward new research
proposals.
In addition, Cancer Research UK have committed an extra £25
million over the next five years to support two new
specialised research centres: The Children’s Brain Tumour
Centre of Excellence, based at the University of Cambridge and
The Institute of Cancer Research, London.
This adds to the £13 million already spent each year by the
charity on research and development of new treatments for the
disease.
Speaking about the funding boost, Maggie said:
“I believe it is extremely important that the UK has a
co-ordinated approach to brain cancer research, in order to
change the trend in prognosis for patients living with brain
tumours.
“I am therefore delighted with today’s announcement and
would like to commend both the Health Secretary and Cancer
Research UK for their commitment to eradicating this terrible
disease.”
Health and Social Care Secretary said:
“While survival rates for most cancers are at record
levels, the prognosis for people with brain tumours has scarcely
improved in over a generation. I am grateful to
and other MPs who have campaigned with great dignity and courage
to raise awareness of this issue.
“Our ambition is to deliver a big uplift in the funding
of brain cancer research, while galvanising the clinical and
scientific communities to explore new avenues for diagnosis and
treatment in the future – it is a chance to create a genuine,
step change in survival rates for one of the deadliest forms of
cancer.”
Sir Harpal Kumar, Cancer Research UK’s chief executive,
said:
“Brain tumours remain a huge challenge, with survival
barely improving over the last 30 years. Since we laid out our
plans to tackle this challenge in 2014, Cancer Research UK has
already substantially increased its funding into brain tumours
and attracted some of the world’s leading experts to the
UK.
“This new funding will mean that we can accelerate
these efforts further, by developing a critical mass of expertise
in key areas and supporting work along the entire research
pipeline to improve survival for children and adults with brain
tumours.”
Each year around 11,400 people in the UK are diagnosed with
a brain tumour and just 14% of people survive their disease for
10 or more years.
