Meeting of the Parliament 13 November 2019
I start by congratulating Clare Adamson on securing today’s debate and I commend her for her consistent campaigning on pancreatic cancer. It is an important issue that I know she is passionate about and has been campaigning on for many years. I thank her, too, for her comments about my colleague John Scott. I also thank and pay tribute to Pancreatic Cancer UK, Pancreatic Cancer Scotland and Macmillan Cancer Support for the comprehensive and useful briefings that they provided to members ahead of this debate.
As Clare Adamson outlined, there are some very stark statistics around pancreatic cancer that we as a country need to turn around. It is the deadliest common cancer in Scotland, with a five-year survival rate of only 5.6 per cent, compared to that of 69 per cent for more survivable cancers. Less than a fifth of people are diagnosed at an early stage and less than 10 per cent of people with pancreatic cancer go on to receive surgery, which is the only curative treatment that can save lives. Despite being only the 12th most common cancer in Scotland, pancreatic cancer is responsible for the sixth highest number of cancer deaths.
I very much agree with what Clare Adamson said with regard to the charities working in this area to increase public awareness of the symptoms of pancreatic cancer, which must be a top priority. A national strategy and campaign to raise awareness, as part of a broader national plan for pancreatic cancer, is rightly a key ask of Pancreatic Cancer UK and it could replicate the most successful elements of the detect cancer early programme’s public campaigns for breast, lung and colorectal cancers, which have had real success in Scotland. All those campaigns have made a significant difference.
Pancreatic cancer is a difficult cancer to detect early, so anything that can increase early detection and diagnosis must be welcome. Given that the causes of pancreatic cancer are little understood, it is vital that we work to take forward more research into it. It is very encouraging that so much world-leading research is taking place here in Scotland—we should celebrate that—not least through the precision panc programme based in Glasgow and the future leaders academy that Clare Adamson highlighted. Like her, I have had the opportunity to visit the academy in the Beatson. I did so last year and met some of the inspirational young leaders who are striving to make the discoveries that can transform the diagnosis and treatment of pancreatic cancer now and in the future.
Currently, though, pancreatic cancer receives only 2 per cent of national cancer research funding. Clearly, that position has to change. I agree with Pancreatic Cancer UK and the Scottish Government about how we must take forward development of specific initiatives to incentivise targeted research into pancreatic cancer across our research and clinical communities. It is clear that that work is already being taken forward. I note that on world cancer research day, the University of Glasgow sent all MSPs its newsletter that specifically highlighted the need to get the treatment of pancreatic cancer to patients at the right time. There is often a very short window of opportunity to achieve that. I back the calls by Macmillan Cancer Support for recognising the crucial necessity of growing and developing our cancer workforce if we are to meet the ambition of providing tailored support to all cancer patients by 2023.
I pay tribute to all those volunteers, some of whom have joined us this evening in the public gallery, for the work that they do for pancreatic cancer charities across the country to raise both awareness and vital funds. My constituent Kim Rowan, who lost her grandmother to pancreatic cancer, continues to make a massive contribution with her campaigning efforts and involvement in our Parliament’s cross-party group on cancer. I give a special mention to Kim’s 13-year-old nephew, Jack Morris, who is taking part in Pancreatic Cancer UK’s challenge of running 24 miles in 24 days in honour of his relatives who have, sadly, died of pancreatic cancer. I hope that he raises lots of money in his challenge and I wish him every success in helping take forward support for that worthy cause.
Again, I welcome this debate and recognise the widespread cross-party support that exists for transforming pancreatic cancer diagnosis and treatment in Scotland. There is clearly a need for real progress and I hope that the Scottish Government and Parliament can ensure that we continue to work to put in place the right plans to move things forward so that more Scots can survive pancreatic cancer.
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