§ Mr. MorganTo ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will make a statement on the incidence of breast cancer in Wales and the success rate of its treatment, relative to the rest of the United Kingdom; and what plans there are to introduce stem cell removal and replacement treatment after high dose chemotherapy, with a view to its establishment as a clinical treatment for breast cancer under the national health service.
691W
§ Mr. RedwoodThe incidence of breast cancer in Wales is above the average for England and Wales. Information on the success rate of treatment, either in Wales or in comparison with the rest of the United Kingdom, is not centrally held. The national breast screening programme, undertaken in Wales by Breast Test Wales, is enhancing the prognosis for women in the most vulnerable age group through early detection of the disease.
I am advised that high dose chemotherapy involving stem cell removal and replacement is a relatively new procedure. In some rarer tumours the technique is becoming well established but for the most common cancers, including breast cancer, treatment is advised only as part of a properly designed clinical trial.