PARLIAMENTARY WRITTEN QUESTION
Pancreatic Cancer: Mortality Rates (29 June 2015)

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what comparative assessment he has made of variation in the survival rates of pancreatic cancer patients living in (a) the UK, (b) Europe and (c) the rest of the world; and if he will make a statement.

Asked by:
Nick Thomas-Symonds (Labour)

There are some variations in survival rates for pancreatic cancer patients between different countries and different parts of the United Kingdom. We have looked at the international comparisons from EUROCARE 5 – the study of survival and care of cancer patients based on European Cancer Registries - but it can be difficult to interpret survival comparisons for cancers with poor prognosis. Although this only covers patients diagnosed up to 2007, the key issue is that survival rates for pancreatic cancer remain poor – and a challenge to be tackled – across the world.

We await the final report of the independent Cancer Taskforce, which will make recommendations across the whole cancer care pathway.

Answered by:
Jane Ellison (Conservative)
2 July 2015