Hansard

I am grateful to colleagues across the parties in the chamber for supporting my motion, and I thank Make 2nds Count and Breast Cancer Now for their support ahead of the debate.

I declare an interest, as a registered nurse. If I went back to January 1988 and told the newly qualified Emma Harper RGN about the advances in the diagnosis and treatment of cancer that have taken place since then, the young Emma would have been amazed and chuffed wi all that progress.

The risk of dying from cancer is at its lowest level on record. Public health campaigns have helped to change lifestyles and tackle risk factors, while treatment and diagnosis have advanced hugely over the decades. We should acknowledge that, along with the fact that we are doing some incredible work in treating primary cancers with surgery, chemotherapy, radiotherapy, endocrine therapy and medication such as trastuzumab—I had to write that down twice so that I could make sure that I said it properly. Trastuzumab is a type of targeted therapy drug, known as a monoclonal antibody, for breast and stomach cancers. It is used if tests show that the cancer cells have too much of a protein called HER2. Those life-changing and life-saving leaps forward in prevention and treatment are all welcome, and we all hope that there is more progress to come.

However, we should and must do better with regard to metastatic cancers in particular. We can go back through years of mortality statistics for primary cancer because Public Health Scotland and its predecessor bodies have been collecting that data for decades. Unfortunately, however, that is not yet the case for secondary and metastatic cancers, including secondary breast cancer.

At best estimates, around 4,000 people across the country are affected by metastatic breast cancer, but the numbers alone cannot convey the human impact of living with a condition that you know cannot be cured. Until we know accurately the scale of the challenge that we face, it makes meeting that challenge harder than it needs to be. Improvements in care and research would benefit hugely if we had a better data collection and analysis service and knew for certain how many people in our country are affected.

I hope that the Minister for Public Health and Women’s Health will be able to update us on progress on making that happen. However, as I said, the numbers are just that—numbers—and they do not convey what the individual impact is, not just on those who are living with secondary breast cancer but on their friends, family and loved ones.

Secondary cancers are often misunderstood. People often assume that they are a further, separate condition, when in fact they have metastasised from primary breast cancer or another cancer. The original condition may have been treated successfully but, unfortunately, cells from the original tumour break away and seed in other tissues and organs of the body. That is one of the biggest tragedies of secondary breast cancer: people may think that they are clear, but they face further heartbreak down the line.

We have a job to do in educating the public and spreading awareness of the facts about secondary breast cancer, not just so that people know about the symptoms for their own health but so that the people around those who are diagnosed with metastatic cancer are prepared and equipped for that diagnosis and are as ready as they can be to give the love and support that their loved one needs.

I know that there are treatments for secondary breast cancer, using a combination of chemotherapy, radiotherapy and other targeted and immunotherapy treatments. I am also aware of the recent denial of two specific medications by the Scottish Medicines Consortium. Both Make 2nds Count and Breast Cancer Now have responded to that decision, and I know that there are many disappointed people voicing their concerns.

I welcome to the public gallery women who are living with secondary breast cancer, whom I and other members met earlier today in Parliament. I thank the minister for also taking the time to meet them. It was a dreich day outside, and folk got a bit soaked, so it was welcome to meet them in the Parliament cafe. We covered issues such as needing specialist nurses or other healthcare practitioners for secondary cancers, and the challenges that people who live in rural areas such as Dumfries and Galloway and the Scottish Borders face in being able to see specialists.

I acknowledge that digital technology can be part of the engagement with, and care for, people with secondary breast cancers. I am, however, looking forward to progress being made to establish a Maggie’s centre in Dumfries, which was announced in August this year.

Members know what it is like to lose a colleague and friend to secondary breast cancer. Ahead of the debate, I have reflected much on the mentoring and advice, and the friendship, that I had from Christina McKelvie MSP. Christina was an amazing person, an amazing MSP and a fabulous minister. It was Christina, through Keith Brown, who asked me to take forward the motion and debate today. It will be a short debate, in fact, because I am aware of the time.

Let us all leave here today resolving to do better and to look at data, care and treatment for people in rural areas. We need to improve the lives of those who are living with secondary breast cancer and secondary cancer and metastatic disease. We need to improve their chances so that their life lasts much longer, as long as possible. I look forward to hearing colleagues’ contributions and the minister’s response.