Luciana Berger – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Luciana Berger on 2014-06-05.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department is taking to improve the collection and reporting of data relating to the incidence of cancer of the unknown primary.

Jane Ellison

Information has recently been published by Public Health England’s National Cancer Intelligence Network (NCIN) about the routes taken by patients prior to a diagnosis of cancer of unknown primary (CUP), and the links between age and socio-economic deprivation and CUP. These publications increase our understanding of the epidemiology of CUP and allow clinical teams to benchmark their levels of CUP diagnoses.

A survey of CUP registration and reporting practices in the United Kingdom, Ireland and Australia was recently conducted by the NCIN and the University of New South Wales. The results, which identified differences in CUP registration practice, are currently being analysed by the NCIN and will be used to develop a better understanding of historic data. The findings can also support and inform future standardisation of national and international registration guidance.

Preliminary results from the CUP survey will be presented at the Cancer Outcomes Conference – the Power of Information 2014.