SAM ROWLANDS, Member of the Welsh Parliament for North Wales, backs campaign to increase research funding for cancers with the lowest survival rates.
Mr Rowlands is supporting the Less Survivable Cancers Taskforces’s, LSCT campaign to invest in research to improve the poor survival chances of people diagnosed with cancers of the brain, liver, lung, oesophagus, pancreas or stomach (the Less Survivable Cancers).
He recently joined members of the Senedd who attended the LSCT’s event in Cardiff as part of Less Survivable Cancers Awareness Week.
He said: “Thousands of people are diagnosed with one of the less survivable cancers in Wales every year and it’s extremely sad to know their long term chances are so dire.
“We all need to recognise the scale of this challenge and back research into these cancers.”
The Less Survivable Cancers Taskforce (LSCT) is calling for more investment into research for cancers of the brain, liver, lung, oesophagus, pancreas and stomach, which it says receive disproportionately low government funding despite causing almost 40% of all common cancer deaths in the UK.
Figures obtained by the LSCT through Freedom of Information requests show that these cancers receive less than one-fifth, or 18.92%, of all government-funded cancer research.
This means that research into less survivable cancers receives around £130 less per cancer death than the average across all cancers. Some, such as oesophageal cancer, receive as little as £40 per death compared to an average of £310 across other types.
Greg Pycroft, Policy and Public Affairs Manager at Tenovus Cancer Care and Chair of the Less Survivable Cancers Taskforce Wales subgroup, said: “The figures released this week are disappointing but not surprising.
“We know that the less survivable cancers, which account for a significant proportion of cancer deaths, receive insufficient research funding, which is partly why patient outcomes are so poor.
“All cancer patients deserve a fighting chance, and increased research is crucial for improving diagnosis and treatments.”
