Cancer Reform Strategy - NHS Cancer Screening Programmes

128 CANCER REFORM STRATEGYservices in 2012 have provided valuableinsights into how services could and shoulddevelop over the next five years. However,these visions should not remain static.We will therefore reconvene these groupsat appropriate intervals to review progress,provide information on new developmentsand discuss emerging challenges.●●●●Prostate cancer;Radiotherapy & radiobiology;Prevention through lifestyle changes relatingto smoking, diet, exercise and alcohol;Supportive and palliative care;11.21 In addition to this we need to ensure thatnew technologies (such as drugs or othertreatments) which could benefit cancer patientsare identified and referred to NICE withoutdelay. During the past year the Department ofHealth and NICE have established a new processfor doing this. Potential technologies areidentified by the National Horizon ScanningCentre and are initially assessed by aconsideration panel convened by NICE andchaired by the National Cancer Director.Recommendations on priorities for technologyappraisals from this and equivalent panels forother disease areas are then made to Ministers.Chapter 4 sets out the changes that will beintroduced to this process for cancer medicines.High quality cancer research11.22 Progress on cancer research in the UK hasbeen impressive since 2000. The NHS CancerPlan heralded the establishment of the NationalCancer Research Institute (NCRI). Set up in2001, the NCRI operates as an ‘institute withoutwalls.’ It comprises 20 partners and is supportedby a secretariat whose costs are reimbursed bythe partners on annual basis. The partnershipincludes the Health Departments from all UKcountries as well as Research Councils, themajor charities that fund cancer research andthe Association of British PharmaceuticalIndustry (ABPI), together with cancer patients.11.23 The NCRI has set up and maintains adatabase of current research in cancer in theUK, which enables analysis of strengths andweaknesses in the portfolio. Partners haveworked together to prepare and publishauthoritative reports on a number of topics andto put together funding consortia to enhanceresearch in a number of areas, in particular:●●Lung cancer and mesothelioma; andNew imaging techniques, especially PET.11.24 To date, these research initiatives areworth a total of £31 million, from governmentand charity funders over their lifetime. Inaddition, the Department of Health provides£15 million a year for the National CancerResearch Network (NCRN), which is an NCRIinitiative. Over the period since NCRI was set up,the total annual government spend on cancerresearch through NCRI partners has risen from£105 million in 2002 to £137 million in 2006,an increase of 30%. Charity funding hasincreased from £152 million to £250 millionover the same period. The government’s fundingfor the NCRI does not include NHS servicesupport for cancer research, which was reportedby NHS organisations to have been worthapproximately £130 million in 2006/7.11.25 In the coming years, NCRI willcontinue to respond to national priorities asset out in this strategy and to overcomeweaknesses in the cancer research base inthe UK. A five year plan, which will begin inApril 2008, is currently in development andwill be published in early 2008. The planwill take account of gaps in the researchevidence base identified during thedevelopment of the Cancer ReformStrategy. NCRI does not fund researchdirectly but will continue to encouragepartners to work together on research inareas including:●Developing and evaluating theinterventions which promote earlierpatient presentation and reduceprofessional delay in referral;