Sarah Edwards

It is an honour to serve under your chairship, Mrs Barker. I pay tribute to all those who signed this petition and to Brain Cancer Justice. I have been invited to speak this evening by one of my constituents, Owen Sutton, who currently lives with a brain tumour. He was diagnosed at university and is now an ambassador for the Brain Tumour Charity. Some 13,000 people are diagnosed with a brain tumour every year. When I counted earlier, there were 35 people in this room—that is equivalent to the number of people diagnosed every day. Research from the Brain Tumour Charity has also estimated that there are huge long-term costs associated with the low survival rates of brain cancer. Loss of earnings and long-term care costs amount to £18.7 billion, which is felt by both the economy and the NHS. Currently, brain tumours account for just 3.2% of the national cancer funding, despite being the biggest killer of adults under 40. Patient polling found that less than half of respondents had been informed of the option to participate in a clinical trial, with just 12% ultimately taking up that opportunity. I therefore support the national cancer strategy’s ambition to make the NHS the first choice venue for clinical trials, but I also advocate that perhaps a right to try option should be incorporated into that—something Owen wanted me to mention. In keeping with the universal values of the NHS, we hope that all those affected by brain tumours can have access to world-leading treatments, so I support calls to increase the funding and to spend the money that we know is already due to be spent. We must all carry the strength and inspiration of Owen’s story, choosing hope over fear and turning the terminal into the treatable.