Jim Shannon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2016-04-21.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what discussions he has had with clinical bodies on research into the use of aspirin to reduce incidents of cancer.
Jane Ellison
Ministers have had no such discussions.
Achieving World-Class Cancer Outcomes A Strategy for England 2015-2020 includes a recommendation that NHS England should commission the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) to develop updated guidelines for the use of drugs for the prevention of breast and colorectal cancers including the use of aspirin for individuals with hereditary non-polyposis colorectal cancer. Once these guidelines are published, clinical commissioning groups should ensure that general practitioners implement them. A National Cancer Transformation Board will oversee the implementation of the strategy, and an implementation plan will be published shortly.
The Strategy also noted that Cancer Research UK and the National Institute for Health Research will continue to monitor outcomes from trials under way in the United Kingdom and internationally regarding the role of aspirin in cancer prevention more generally. They will make evidence available to NHS England and NICE as results become clear.
