§ Ms LynneTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what is her policy on the encouragement of randomised controlled trails for the treatment of breast cancer.
§ Mr. SackvilleThe Government are committed to encouraging research into breast cancer. Randomised controlled trials are regarded as the scientific method for determining and evaluating new developments in health care, and are funded by the Department when they represent the most appropriate method of research for answering specific questions relevant to health care policy and practice.
The United Kingdom Health Departments, along with the Medical Research Council which receives its grant in aid from the office of my right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, and the major cancer research charities—the Imperial Cancer Research Fund and the Cancer Research Campaign—are currently funding four studies into breast screening at an estimated cost of £5 million over five years. Three of these trials involve RCTs. The trials are being co-ordinated by the United Kingdom Co-ordinating Committee on Cancer Research.