PANCREATIC CANCER RESEARCH

Early day motion 175, tabled 25 June 2014 by Alasdair McDonnell (Social Democratic and Labour Party). Signed by 75 members.

That this House recognises that pancreatic cancer is a devastating disease and is the fifth most common cause of cancer deaths in the UK; acknowledges the extremely low five-year survival rates for pancreatic cancer patients, which is the worst survival rate for any of the 21 most common cancers; notes that these low survival rates are in part due to the disease being diagnosed at too late a stage for surgical intervention; further notes that pancreatic cancer research is currently underfunded and amounts to less than one per cent of the National Cancer Research Institute site-specific annual spending, despite being responsible for five per cent of all cancer deaths each year; further recognises that greater investment is urgently needed in pancreatic cancer research to develop treatments and earlier diagnostic tools for this disease; and therefore calls on the Government to increase research funding to tackle pancreatic cancer to provide hope and support for patients with this dreadful disease.

Signatures by party: Labour 37, Liberal Democrat 12, Conservative 11, DUP 8, Social Democratic and Labour Party 3, Independent 2, Alliance 1, Scottish National Party 1.