HC Deb 21 July 1998 vol 316 cc528-9W
Dr. Gibson

To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what assessment his Department has made of the recent taxol trials in the United States of America; [50916]

(2) what guidelines his Department has issued to health authorities regarding new drug treatments for (a) cancer and (b) ovarian cancer. [50913]

Mr. Boateng

Some clinical trials on the place of "Taxol" in the treatment of ovarian cancer have already reported results but other are still underway. The latest results were presented at the meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology in May this year and have undergone close scrutiny by the profession. They will shortly be discussed by the Standing Medical Advisory Committee and following that advice will be issued to the National Health Service.

Over the last two years the NHS Executive has produced three sets of guidance for commissioners in the "Improving Outcomes" series on breast cancer, colorectal cancer and lung cancer. Each gives advice on chemotherapy.

Dr. Gibson

To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will list the five-year survival rates for(a) breast, (b) bowel and (c) lung cancer in (i) the United Kingdom and (ii) other EU countries. [50919]

Mrs. Liddell

I have been asked to reply.

The information requested falls within the responsibility of the Chief Executive of the Office for National Statistics. I have asked him to reply.

Letter from Tim Holt to Dr. Ian Gibson, dated 21 July 1998: As Director of the Office for National Statistics (ONS), I have been asked to reply to your recent parliamentary question on survival rates for cancer. The latest available cancer survival estimates for England and Wales, Scotland and other countries in Europe are given in Cancer survival in England and Wales: 1981 and 1989 registrations. Monitor MB 1 98/1, ONS/ICRF, 1998; Cancer registration statistics Scotland, 1986–1995, ISD Scotland, 1998; and Survival of cancer patients in Europe—The EUROCARE Study, IARC Scientific Publications No. 132, Lyons, 1995. Copies are available in the House of Commons Library.