Asked by
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to
encourage research into (1) the causes, and (2) the treatment, of
brain tumours.
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department of Health
and Social Care () (Con)
My Lords, I am hugely grateful to noble Lords for bringing this
challenge to my attention. It is House of Lords advocacy at its
best. We have met interested parties and I am pleased to say that
we have a plan. Workshops are being booked, more research is
being funded and we are encouraging more researchers to become
involved. I am hopeful that this will mean progress and I am
watchful to ensure that it delivers.
(Lab) [V]
My Lords, I am very grateful to the Minister for that positive
response. Can he assure me that, in addition to seeking ways of
being able to spend up to the £40 million research money made
available, he will comment on the report of the chair of the
all-party group on brain tumours, which says that there is
greater need because there are no researchers able to undertake
much of this research? Can he consider steps to address this
imbalance and attract the brightest of medical and scientific
minds into this uniquely complex area?
(Con)
The noble Lord is right: it is extremely complex and one of the
challenges we have is that the basic science needed to guide
research is an unpredictable and difficult-to-manage process.
That is why I have invited representatives of patient groups to
try to guide the basic scientific research so that the talented
cancer researchers who are available, who can do the more
operational and applicable elements of the research, will have
the material necessary to get on with their job.
(Non-Afl) [V]
My Lords, it is arguable that, of all the human organs, the brain
is the main. People from the black community are nearly three
times more likely to develop pituitary tumours at the base of the
brain than their white counterparts. The reasons for this
disparity are still not clear. Will the Government commit to
encouraging further research into this issue? Also, only 14% of
UK spending on brain tumour research is from the Government; the
remaining 86% is from the charity sector. Although more money is
not the total answer, will the Government commit to more funding
for this vital area of research?
(Con)
My Lords, £40 million was announced in May 2018 for brain tumour
research. To date, £9.3 million has been committed and £5.5
million will be committed from April 2018 to 2023. At this stage,
as the noble Lord, Lord Hunt, alluded to, the allocation of
budget is not the issue. Making sure that the pipeline of
applicable research is in place is our challenge. That is why we
have worked well with interested parties to put together a plan
for trying to ginger along the basic science necessary to get
those research projects activated.
(Con)
My Lords, in 2019, my 22-year-old son, Charlie, was diagnosed
with a germinoma, which is a rare form of brain tumour. He was
referred for proton-beam therapy at the Christie Hospital in
Manchester by the excellent Dr Jeremy Rees of the National
Hospital in Queen Square. First, I thank the Government for
spending the vast amount of money required to establish this
capability in the UK, which, I am pleased to say, I think has
been successful. Is the second facility at UCLH still on track to
come on stream in 2021? Perhaps the Minister might reflect on the
clinical expertise that has developed over the last year since
the establishment of the facility at the Christie Hospital.
(Con)
My Lords, it is fantastic news that my noble friend’s son has
benefited so well from our considerable investment in proton-beam
therapy. I wish both him and his son good luck on behalf of all
noble Lords. I am not aware of any current plans to open a PBT
site in Birmingham, but I can reassure him that the UCLH site in
London is due to open this year and we look forward to that very
much indeed. It was hoping to open in 2020 but plans were
impacted by the pandemic. As with any ground-breaking technology,
clinical expertise in PBT will continue to increase as our
hard-working frontline radiological staff treat more and more
patients.
(CB) [V]
My Lords, I am most encouraged by the opening statement from the
Minister and the Answer he gave to the noble Lord, . That goes a long way to answering my
question, which was whether he agrees that to improve the outcome
for patients with brain tumours, we need a strategy that
addresses the clinical and research workforce; basic and clinical
research, including genetics; research funding; and diagnostic
and treatment centres of excellence—a strategy similar to one
that dramatically improved outcomes for patients with breast
cancer and leukaemia. Does the Minister agree that the director
of the National Institute for Health Research—or anyone else that
he feels appropriate—should be asked to develop such a plan?
(Con)
My Lords, the noble Lord makes an excellent suggestion. Indeed, I
am pleased to report that exactly such a strategy is in place by
working with the Brain Cancer
Mission, to which the department, the NIHR, NHS England and NHS
Improvement are all active contributors. As part of the mission
the department is funding new research through NIHR, encouraging
new researchers to become involved, and we will be supporting the
delivery of research as a key part of the new centres of
excellence.
(Lab)
[V]
My Lords, many experts conclude that without new discoveries the
outlook for patients with brain tumours is bleak. Given that many
sufferers are in their teens or twenties and reliant on the
support of their parents or carers, do the Government see it as a
priority to support families, both during treatment processes and
during the all-too-frequent bereavements?
(Con)
My Lords, the noble Baroness is right that brain tumours and
brain cancer are some of the most awful situations, particularly
because they so frequently affect the young. That is why
infrastructure spend on brain tumour research has increased. I am
pleased to say that we received 62 applications for research
funding between May 2018 and 2020, 10 of which have been funded
so far, but more can be done in that area. Supporting families
is, of course, part of the responsibility of the charities and
trusts involved, and I wish the best to all those families who
have been hit by this awful condition.
(LD) [V]
My Lords, when this issue was raised at Questions on 19 November
last year, the Minister suggested that the quality of
applications needed improving. He kindly offered to meet research
charities working in this area to facilitate this. Can he tell
the House which of these charities he has met or has an
appointment to meet and how many applications have since been
received?
(Con)
My Lords, I have had three meetings, particularly with the
Brain Cancer
Mission, which has been extremely constructive and brought with
it clinical expertise, patient groups and policymakers. Together
we have worked on a plan, which I articulated in my opening
remarks. It has emerged that it is not a question of the quality
of the research applications. The quality of research in this
area is fantastic. The problem is that we need to have better
basic science at the very early stage of the pipeline in order to
guide the later operable research suggestions. That is why we
have organised the workshops, are feeding back to the applicants
in the previous round of research and are actively engaged in
this area.
(Con)
[V]
My Lords, I declare my interest as a patron of the Brain Cancer
Mission. I thank my noble friend for his sincere engagement with
the challenge of improving the quality of brain cancer research
since my Oral Question last year. He has taken the bull by the
horns and I think we have a plan that is going to make a
difference. I wonder if he might also comment on the difficulties
that medical charities, which are such an important part of the
funding landscape, are having at the moment because of the Covid
crisis. This particularly affects hard-to-treat cancers such as
brain tumours. Are the Government willing to give more support to
these charities to ride out the difficult times they face at the
moment?
(Con)
My noble friend alludes to a situation that is grave and
concerning. Hundreds of millions of pounds have disappeared from
medical research charity income, particularly through the closure
of second-hand clothes shops, which provide an enormous amount of
income for British medical research. I pay tribute to the massive
contribution of medical research charities in trying to move
forward the science of medical research. This is an area we are
deeply concerned about, and colleagues at BEIS and the Treasury
are actively engaged with it. My noble friend is right that this
a knotty situation to solve that we need to look at very
carefully indeed.
(Lab)
[V]
My Lords, I was very privileged to be present in the Chamber when
my noble friend Lady Jowell made her plea to improve brain tumour
treatment, research and survival. The work since her death of the
Brain Cancer
Mission, referred to by the Minister and other noble Lords, on
the new national strategy has been inspirational. The mission has
developed clear practical steps and pathways to build the
quality, quantity and diversity of research that the UK needs,
such as addressing delays in opening clinical studies, programmes
to train the UK’s first generation of brain tumour-specific
positions, and dedicated brain tumour centres. What steps are the
Government taking to make sure that the NIHR, the MRC and the
UKRI work together to ensure that the progress we need comes
about? What will happen to the NIHR funding money put aside for
brain tumour research in 2018 that remains unallocated at the end
of the five-year window announced three years ago?
(Con)
My Lords, I also pay tribute to the Brain Cancer
Mission and all its work in putting together a really thoughtful
strategy for tackling this most difficult issue. NIHR cancer
research expenditure has risen from £101 million in 2010 to £138
million in 2019-20, and its settlement in the recent spending
review was generous. I am optimistic that there are more
resources there. I reassure the noble Baroness that, although the
£40 million for brain tumour research has not all been allocated
yet, it is not going anywhere and we are working as hard as
possible to ensure that the right kinds of research project are
put forward for that money. I would like to see it allocated as
soon as possible.
