Edward has spoken in Parliament to give his support to the Rare Cancers Bill, a Private Members Bill (PMB) proposed by Labour MP, Dr Scott Arthur, which will ultimately help improve research into, and the treatment of, rare cancers in this country.
The range of what is defined as a 'rare cancer' is huge, and includes among many other illnesses like leukaemia, pancreatic cancer, brain cancer, and all childrens' and young peoples' cancers - the reality is that although individually these types of cancer are rare, collectively they account for around 55% of all cancer deaths, so the need to do more to focus on them, with improved research and treatments is very clear.
The Bill aims to do a number of important things: if forces a review of the 'orphan drugs' (drugs that treat conditions with smaller numbers of patients than others, which are therefore less attractive to commercial researchers and drugs producers to invest in) incentives regime to assess whether it is working, and whether it can be improved to incentivise more companies to research treatments for these rarer cancers; it seeks to improve what can be done to trial where a drug developed for one purpose can effectively be used to treat another illness as well; it places a duty on the Health Secretary to facilitate and improve research related to patients with rare cancers and to appoint a national speciality lead for rare cancers in NIHCR; and it would help establish a single database of patients willing to participate in new treatment trials, making it easier for researchers to find participants and to undertake life saving research.
Edward commented: "The reality is that we probably all know someone who has suffered from a rare cancer, or who is battling one now. We have seen very real progress on treatments for many more 'common' cancers, and this is hugely welcome, but rarer cancers also need attention and focus.While in themselves, the measures in this Bill are relatively small steps, collectively they have the potential to drive forward real progress in researching, and treating rare cancers, and ultimately saving more lives here in Melton and Syston, and across the country. I was very pleased to be able to give my full support to this important piece of legislation, which passed its 2nd Reading debate in the House of Commons with cross-Party support, and I look forward to its continued progress into law in the coming months."
