Jim Shannon

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Ms Vaz. I thank the hon. Member for Dulwich and West Norwood (Helen Hayes) for her story on behalf of her dear friend and for leading the debate. We have been very privileged to hear contributions from courageous hon. Ladies to my right and to my left, who have told their own personal stories, which contribute to this debate. It probably also humbles us to have those contributions. Every person who has come here today to make a contribution will have an example of someone they love who has been affected. Westminster Hall is a great place, as the Chamber would be, to raise awareness and to discuss these matters. I am sure that many will not be fully aware of this insidious brand of cancer, or of its specifics. I am personally grateful to be able to give one example, but also to discuss these issues. As my party’s health spokesperson, these issues are incredibly important to me. Indeed, they are important to us all; we are all here for the same purpose and it is vital for us all to be here. I know that we will all have had some journey experiencing cancer within our family or close to home. Not long ago, I met in my office a constituent of mine who was diagnosed with lobular breast cancer. I think that, whenever we meet someone who has come through that journey and thankfully is on the other side and alive today, we thank God, as the hon. Member for Maidstone and Malling (Helen Grant) did. Ultimately—I say this respectfully to everyone here —that is where the power lies for healing: with our God. The hon. Lady explained that there is not enough research into the specifics of this cancer, let alone more access to medication that lessens the impacts of the suffering. Perhaps the Minister will have an opportunity, through civil servants, to check what research and development there is on this specific lobular cancer to help save more lives, make lives better and give people hope for the future. Ultimately, in this House, we are tasked to give hope—not because of our words, because our words are not important—to those out there who face this reality of what the future will hold for them. Invasive lobular breast cancer is the second most common type of breast cancer. It is also known as invasive lobular carcinoma. Around 15 in every 100 breast cancers are invasive lobular breast cancer. The most recent figures show that, in 2016, 6,765 people were diagnosed with lobular breast cancer in England, including 6,754 women and 11 men. There may be those who think that it is not a disease that can affect men; but although it is a very low number, it still does. My hon. Friend the Member for Wokingham (Clive Jones) is one of those survivors. I think we should thank God that he is here today as well. It is important to note that, although it is less common for men to get this form of cancer, they are still able to get it and it can impact them just the same. There were 7,566 cases of female breast cancer diagnosed during 2018 and 2022 in Northern Ireland. On average, there were 1,513 cases per year. I want to put the figures and stats on record because they illustrate clearly how critical, dangerous and invasive this cancer can be. In Northern Ireland, the breast cancer incidence rate was 156.7 cases per 100,000 females. The odds of developing female breast cancer before the age of 85 was one in eight. It is clear that there is a major concern in Northern Ireland and throughout this great United Kingdom. This specific type of cancer often goes undetected, as it spreads in straight lines, as opposed to lumps. Furthermore, although the cancer grows slowly compared with other cancers, the tumours can be large by the time they are detected. In addition, some 3.75 million people will be diagnosed with this cancer in the next 10 years, which is why it is important to discuss it, so I thank the hon. Member for Dulwich and West Norwood for securing this debate.