John Baron MP addresses Rarer Cancers Parliamentary reception

John with Andrew Wilson, Chief Executive of the Rarer Cancers Foundation; and Professor Martin Gore, Medical Director of The Royal Marsden and Professor of Cancer Medicine at The Institute of Cancer Research.

MP raises concerns over the ending of Cancer Drugs Fund

Earlier this week, John Baron MP sponsored and spoke at a reception in Parliament organised by the Rarer Cancers Foundation. The Foundation offers advice and support to families and patients with rare or less common cancers, and aims to raise awareness and provide information about rarer cancers. Despite their name, these account for between 30% – 50% of all cancers.

The event highlighted the positive impact of the Cancer Drugs Fund on providing treatments to cancer patients, and particularly patients with rarer cancers, who have benefitted from innovative treatments which would otherwise be unavailable. However, the Cancer Drugs Fund will close in March 2014, and there is uncertainty as to the transitional arrangements as the NHS moves into a new pricing system.

At the event, John said,

“I pay tribute to the Rarer Cancers Foundation for its support of patients and their families as they progress through treatment. In particular, I also applaud its excellent work in raising awareness of the signs and symptoms of less common cancers. As with all cancers, the earlier they are detected, the more successfully they can be treated.”

“The Cancer Drugs Fund has proved to be a great success, enabling thousands of cancer patients to access effective treatments. As the Fund draws to a close, it is essential the Government provides clarity as to its replacement. This has not yet been forthcoming. The All-Party Parliamentary Group on Cancer will continue to press the Government on this issue.”

Andrew Wilson, Chief Executive, Rarer Cancers Foundation said:

“Given the ongoing uncertainty about the impact of the new pricing system on patients’ access to medicines, we are calling for an interim solution to safeguard access to these treatments until a robust process is established that enables CDF-funded medicines to transition to the new system once it is shown to work for cancer medicines.”