My View: Supporting Those With Secondary Breast Cancer

I sympathise deeply with all those impacted by secondary breast cancer, whether facing a diagnosis themselves or supporting a loved one.

In February, our Government launched the National Cancer Plan – outlining how, for the first time, the NHS will commit to ensuring three in four people diagnosed with cancer from 2035 onwards are cancer-free or living well after five years. Through the plan, we will ensure people with secondary breast cancer have faster diagnoses and treatment, access to the latest treatments and technology, and high-quality support throughout their journey.

To improve the diagnosis of breast cancer, the NHS will harness 'circulating tumour DNA' tests for breast cancer, which can pick up relapse months earlier. This will accelerate clinical decisions and allow patients to start the most effective treatment faster. The NHS is also trialling the use of self-referral breast cancer pathways to streamline diagnostic pathways using the NHS App and NHS 111 online service.

I am pleased every patient diagnosed with cancer will be supported through a personalised care package, covering mental and physical health as well as any practical or financial concerns. For people with secondary breast cancer, this will be a step forward in building care around them and their families. 

I also welcome that our Government has committed to begin counting metastatic disease, starting with breast cancer, so that people living with incurable cancer are properly recognised and better supported.

As you may know, decisions on whether new medicines should be routinely funded by the NHS in England are made based on recommendations from the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) following an evaluation of a treatment’s costs and benefits. It is important decisions are made independently and on the basis of the available evidence.

Our Government has committed to investing 25% more in new innovative medicines, which will support improved access to new medicines for patients. The increase corresponds to two changes to the way NICE evaluates medicines, meaning it will now be able to approve medicines that deliver significant health improvements but might have previously been declined purely on cost-effectiveness grounds. This could include breakthrough cancer treatments, therapies for rare diseases and innovative approaches to conditions that have been difficult to treat.