Meeting of the Parliament 21 November 2018
I am pleased to take part in today’s debate, and I welcome all those in the public gallery who have joined us. I congratulate Clare Adamson on securing the debate and recognise her consistent interest, campaigning and involvement in this area. It is important in these debates to recognise members who use their time in Parliament to really progress issues, and Clare is certainly one of those people.
I thank Pancreatic Cancer Scotland and Pancreatic Cancer UK for providing useful briefings for the debate, as well as constituents in Lothian who have contacted me about losing members of their families and dedicating their lives to ensuring that we focus on taking any action that we can.
I agree with the motion’s praise for our excellent pancreatic cancer charities and their supporters and with what it says about the need to progress early detection and diagnosis. As Clare Adamson rightly said, only 17 per cent of people with pancreatic cancer are diagnosed at stages 1 and 2, with 63 per cent of people diagnosed at stages 3 and 4—the advanced stages. We need to and must work to make progress to change that.
Pancreatic cancer is the fastest-killing cancer; if nothing changes, it is set to be the fourth biggest cancer killer in the United Kingdom by 2026. As well as improving early detection, we need to see far swifter treatment after diagnosis, which is something that Pancreatic Cancer UK is right to campaign on so strongly. Only 9 per cent of patients who were diagnosed with pancreatic or duodenal cancer in Scotland in 2016 had potentially curative surgery and only two in 10 received chemotherapy. A model of fast-track surgery in Birmingham has demonstrated that an additional 20 per cent of people can have surgery if treated within 20 days. That means that, every year in Scotland, more than 200 extra people could survive for beyond a year. I have previously talked in the chamber about that issue and about the need for ministers to develop a fast-track model. I hope that, when the minister responds to the debate, we will hear how ministers are considering how to change the situation and what plans are being taken forward in the area.
Similarly, for those with late-stage cancer, the model at the Clatterbridge Cancer Centre in Merseyside demonstrates that, if individuals are treated more quickly, 25 per cent more can receive chemotherapy. We need to replicate that best practice here in Scotland.
I recently had the pleasure of visiting Pancreatic Cancer UK’s future leaders academy, which is a training programme that is based at Cancer Research UK’s Beatson institute in Glasgow. I was delighted to be joined on that visit by Kim Rowan, who is in the public gallery this evening and who is an inspirational and dedicated pancreatic cancer campaigner. She is well known to many members for her significant contributions to our cross-party group on cancer. On that visit, I was incredibly impressed by the work that is being undertaken by Professor Owen Sansom, the director of the institute and of the future leaders academy, and his highly talented team of researchers. Their truly groundbreaking research offers real hope for the future. The young researchers who work there may well become world-leading scientists, bringing the breakthroughs of the future to fruition. We expect great things from them, and I hope that they will deliver on that.
When I was on that visit, the issue of protected time for research work was raised with me. I ask the minister to comment on that when she is closing the debate and say whether she is willing to look into the concerns that have been raised—I am happy to write to her about them. Pancreatic Cancer UK has said that it would welcome increased capacity in the area. We should all work to increase research by clinicians to complement the future leaders programme. More broadly, it must be a concern for all of us that pancreatic cancer has historically been underfunded in the United Kingdom, receiving only 1 per cent of the cancer research budget over the past decade.
I again welcome the debate. I am willing to play my part, as I hope is the whole Parliament, in raising awareness of pancreatic cancer and the need to improve diagnosis and treatment. Charities such as Pancreatic Cancer UK have set out positive and specific measures that we could take now to make a real difference in life expectancy. I hope that ministers will take a decisive lead and will consider how we can take those forward to extend lives. I was at the reception last night that Clare Adamson mentioned, and I was filled with hope after meeting so many people at it, because at long last we can see an opportunity to make a real breakthrough. I hope that we can all work towards achieving that.
18:17