Meeting of the Parliament 20 November 2025
I thank everyone who supported the motion recognising pancreatic cancer awareness month and world pancreatic cancer day, which is today for 2025, and all the members who took part in the photo call in the garden lobby a few weeks ago. I hope that members of Pancreatic Cancer UK and Pancreatic Cancer Action Scotland are with us today on this important occasion.
Although this might be the last pancreatic cancer debate in this parliamentary session, I trust that it will not be the last that we have in the Parliament, as we have established this regular debate as an important moment when we look at the impact of this incredibly devastating cancer.
Pancreatic cancer is the deadliest common cancer. Each year, just under 900 people in Scotland are diagnosed, and the statistics remain stark. Half of those diagnosed die within three months, eight in 10 are diagnosed too late for life-saving treatment and only seven in every 100 survive beyond five years. I know that it has touched members since our previous debate, as it has touched all of us over the years. On world pancreatic cancer day, it is crucial that we remember that those numbers represent families that will never be the same and lives that are cut painfully short.
The central problem that we face is that of late detection. Symptoms of pancreatic cancer are vague—back pain, indigestion, weight loss and jaundice—and are often viewed as non-urgent in primary care settings. Nine in 10 patients visit their general practitioner multiple times before being diagnosed. However, by that time, the cancer is often too advanced for surgery or other life-saving treatments.
We know that progress is possible, and we must have better outcomes. It is encouraging that research into early detection of pancreatic cancer is showing progress and has the potential to shift the dial towards earlier diagnosis during the next few years. That is because of organisations such as Pancreatic Cancer UK and Pancreatic Cancer Action, which fund research and are working to help doctors in primary care detect the disease earlier.
One such project is the volatile organic compound assessment in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma—known as VAPOR—study, led by Professor George Hanna at Imperial College London. His team is developing a breath test for use in GP surgeries to rapidly identify patients with pancreatic cancer. Early results indicate that the test accurately detects the disease at its earliest stages. The study will advance to its second phase in the new year, which will see about 40 hospitals across the United Kingdom, including some here in Scotland, take part in a national trial. If successful, that simple test could transform the way in which people are referred for assessment, allowing the disease to be caught at a stage at which treatment is still possible.
We are also seeing pioneering work from researchers across Scotland. At the University of Glasgow, Professor Nigel Jamieson is leading a project to identify which pancreatic cysts are most likely to turn cancerous. That could allow early intervention for those who are most at risk. Other UK studies are developing blood and urine tests and tools to identify new-onset diabetes that can signal the earliest stages of pancreatic cancer. Each of those projects is a vital step towards earlier diagnosis and, ultimately, saving lives.
However, research alone is not enough. Pancreatic cancer research receives only 3 per cent of the UK’s total cancer research funding, despite being on track to become the fourth leading cause of cancer-related death in the coming years, overtaking breast cancer. That imbalance and delay in progress is costing lives, and we urgently need a UK-wide commitment to achieve substantial improvements in survival rates for cancers with the poorest outcomes, including pancreatic, brain, liver, lung, oesophageal and stomach cancer. That must be achieved by the end of the decade.
We wait for the progress that new research will undoubtedly bring, but we must not lose sight of the patients who are facing cancer right now. Since I spoke in last year’s members’ business debate, another 900 people in Scotland will have been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, and many of them will be subject to delays and variation in care.
I have been working closely with representatives of Pancreatic Cancer UK and Pancreatic Cancer Action and the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care to ensure that the new national hepato-pancreato-biliary cancer pathway covers referral, diagnosis and treatment. It is vital to ensure that no patient slips through the cracks. As part of that, the national centre for sustainable delivery will commence work on an optimal diagnostic pathway for HPB cancers, which is expected to be completed by 2026. I welcome the excellent opportunity to strengthen the diagnosis capacity across the health service and ensure that patients are referred for investigation as quickly and early as possible.
I think that there will be an opportunity for members to visit Pancreatic Cancer Action Scotland’s pan can van outside the Scottish Parliament today. I commend Tunnock’s, a Scottish icon that I am sure is in all our thoughts, given Scotland’s wonderful performance the other night. Every year for pancreatic cancer day, Tunnock’s produces tea cakes with an iconic purple covering, and this is a rare opportunity to see those in action. I urge all members to support the incredible work of Pancreatic Cancer Action and Pancreatic Cancer UK in raising awareness of the disease.