Brain Tumours: Causes and Treatment

Question

Asked by

To ask His Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to improve the scale of research into the causes and treatment of brain tumours.

My Lords, research is vital to ensure that people get the most effective treatments and the highest quality care. We are committed to furthering investment in brain tumour research: between 2018-19 and 2023-24, NIHR invested £11.8 million and UKRI invested £46.8 million in this area. The new NIHR brain tumour research consortium does promise a step change, with further announcements being imminent. In addition, the national cancer plan will seek to improve every aspect of cancer care, including outcomes for those with brain tumours.

My Lords, I thank the Minister for her reply, but I want to press for more urgency to beat this terrible disease. Brain cancer is now the biggest killer of children and adults under the age of 40 in the UK. Behind every statistic is a person, like my old friend Georgie Maynard, a mother of three who received her own devastating diagnosis two and a half years ago. Georgie has co-founded the Brain Cancer Justice group, and she is here today. She wants to know why the UK’s brain cancer survival rate ranks only 22nd out of 29 wealthy nations, why just 1% of the cancer research budget is allocated to brain cancer, and why only 12% of people with a brain tumour are able to participate in trials. In particular, the whole-genome sequencing is vital for brain tumour research, yet just 5% of brain tumour patients can access it.

Last September, the Tessa Jowell Brain Cancer Mission published its recommendations. Will the Minister agree to review these recommendations and meet with the Brain Cancer Justice group to discuss how they can be incorporated?

I thank my noble friend for the opportunity to meet Georgie just before Questions. I am happy to write to my noble friend with answers to all those questions. On the last two, yes, we continue to work very closely in partnership with the Tessa Jowell Brain Cancer Mission to drive further progress against its recommendations. I will certainly speak with the Minister who deals with this area—Ashley Dalton MP, who is currently ensuring that the cancer plan can be published at the beginning of the forthcoming year—about the suggestion of a meeting. We have very much engaged with the cancer community on the cancer plan, and we continue to be keen to do so.

My Lords, I thank the Minister for promising us a cancer plan by the beginning of next year. I hope it will be forthcoming, because it will be good to look at how cancer care will change. Regarding brain tumours, the problem is that the symptoms are often vague and mild, so early diagnosis is much more difficult. We need more research into the early diagnosis of tumours. Furthermore, we need much more research than the numbers mentioned by the Minister. One of the success stories, one hopes, in 2026 will be drug gene therapy and viral immunotherapy, which will be put through clinical trials early next year to treat glioblastoma, the major brain tumour killer. I hope we will have more funding, because £30 million, £40 million or even £50 million will not do.

I want to convey to the noble Lord our ambition in this area. I completely accept the point he makes—although not all of them—about the challenge of diagnosing rarer cancers, including brain tumours. Research is absolutely vital. Last September, we announced new research funding opportunities, bringing the brain cancer research community together, because we want to drive step change for patients in the way the noble Lord seeks. Funding decisions will arise from this call, and announcements are expected imminently.

My Lords, my son survived a brain tumour, but he was lucky, because in the UK between 40% and 60% of brain tumour diagnoses happen after the patient has arrived at A&E, having often been misdiagnosed—to follow on from the noble Lord’s question—earlier. That is a much worse outcome than many for other cancers. As the Minister said, brain tumour cancers are the leading killer of people under the age of 40. Will she therefore commit to a public awareness campaign to explain some of the difficult symptoms the noble Lord just identified, and the seriousness of brain tumours? Such awareness is sadly lacking among the public.

I take the point the noble Lord makes, and I am sorry to hear of his son’s—and of course his family’s—experience. One of the things we are working on is increasing public awareness of brain cancer research opportunities. That is not quite the same as the point the noble Lord made, but extending that through the NIHR’s “Be Part of Research” initiative is important. The national cancer plan will give us the opportunity to review what communications and campaigns we run with the public. That will be a good opportunity to consider the point he makes.

My Lords, Georgie’s brother is Charlie Maynard MP, who has been campaigning on this. One of the issues raised is that in the UK it takes significantly longer to open a clinical trial for these patients than in most comparable nations, due to the excessive administrative burden. Will the Government therefore commit to looking at a fast-track designation for trials involving cancers with unmet needs, such as glioblastoma?

We certainly do need to cut more red tape on cancer treatments. For example, we recently accelerated patient access to ultrasound cancer treatment through our innovative devices access pathway pilot. That is just one way in which we will have the potential to help companies, which is crucial to bring game-changing cancer treatments to fruition and to NHS patients even faster.

My Lords, would the Minister agree that it is important to recognise and praise the treatment that is already available while challenging to do more? I was diagnosed with a benign tumour and the treatment was exemplary. On the real upside of this, I have a lot of documentary evidence that I have a brain.

I have never doubted that about the right reverend Prelate, but I am sure that the whole of your Lordships’ House is very pleased that he is with us. It is absolutely right and proper to pay tribute to all those in the whole system who provide care, treatment, diagnosis, research and so on. It is a team effort, and I am glad that he has benefited so well from it.

My Lords, being diagnosed with a brain tumour is devastating not only for the person involved but for their family. As my noble friend Lord Sharpe said, brain tumours can lead to memory loss, cognitive changes and reduced physical ability. Those symptoms are sometimes not picked up beforehand, but even when someone is diagnosed with a brain tumour those very symptoms sometimes lead to misunderstandings among friends and family members, and can lead to isolation. Given this, can the Minister outline what steps NHS England and the department are taking to raise awareness among families and friends of all the symptoms and side-effects of brain tumours, so we can avoid those misunderstandings and ensure that the patient continues to receive care from their loved ones?

It is an important point, as the noble Lord, Lord Sharpe, raised. As I said, the national cancer plan will give that opportunity to address challenges and needs such as those the noble Lord raised. We are also establishing a brain tumour research consortium through the NIHR, which will bring together researchers from different disciplines. The scientific advancements it will drive will be how to prevent, detect—to the point raised by the noble Lords—manage and treat brain tumours. That will also be of great assistance.

My Lords, the Government should be congratulated on trying to improve their work on brain cancer. Talking about treatment, one of the issues is that one of the greatest advances and most important areas is brain imaging using magnetic resonance imaging, PET scanning and even electrical recording in a sophisticated way, but access to these important technologies still seems somewhat deficient. Will the Minister say whether the NHS has plans to increase access to brain imaging? It seems a very important area in treatment.

We certainly want to see services properly available across the country and people not being disadvantaged because of where they live or what the services are. Again, from what I know of it—we will soon see it—the national cancer plan will improve every aspect of cancer care, including outcomes for those with brain tumours and access to the services my noble friend outlines.