Category: Speeches

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nigel Evans on 2016-06-13.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what plans his Department has to improve breast cancer survival rates for women in England.

Jane Ellison

The independent Cancer Taskforce published its report, Achieving World-Class Cancer Outcomes: A Strategy for England 2015-2020, in July last year, recommending improvements across the cancer patient pathway, including for breast cancer. An implementation plan, Achieving World-Class Cancer Outcomes: Taking the strategy forward, was published on 12 May 2016 and we hope to see great progress as it is delivered.

On breast cancer specifically, the cancer strategy recommended that we:

– ensure that chemo-prevention is being used appropriately to reduce the risk of developing breast cancers, particularly in younger women at high risk of developing cancer;

– commission the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence to develop updated guidelines for adjuvant treatment for breast cancer, including the use of bisphosphonates and aromatase inhibitors to prevent secondary cancers in women previously treated for early stage breast cancer;

– ensure that all patients treated for cancer are given advice on how best to manage their risk level and ensure that the risk of developing secondary cancers is reduced, as well as ensuring that there is a fast and efficient route back into treatment for patients who suffer recurrence; and

– ensure that, by 2020, the 280,000 people diagnosed with cancer every year will benefit from a tailored recovery package. The packages will be individually designed to help each person, live well beyond cancer, including psychological and social support for those whose cancer recurs, or who live for a long time with cancer or its consequences, as is often the case in women with secondary breast cancer.

More generally on breast cancer:

– in the Budget earlier this year, the Chancellor announced that Breast Cancer Care is to receive a £1 million Tampon Tax Fund gift to support women at the end of treatment;

– we have run two national Be Clear on Cancer campaigns to raise awareness of the symptoms of breast cancer in women aged over 70; and

– breast screening saves an estimated 1,300 lives a year in the United Kingdom. A major randomised controlled trial is testing whether extending breast screening to women aged 47-49 and 71-73 will save more lives. Over two million women have been randomised into the trial, and results are expected in the early 2020s.