Written question asked by Lord Taylor of Warwick (Conservative), in the House of Lords. It was answered by Baroness Thornton (Labour) on Thursday, 10 December 2009.

Health: Cancer

Question: To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they will take to make it a requirement to provide ovarian cancer screening for women.

Answer: As stated in the Cancer Reform Strategy published in 2007, the cancer research community is committed to investigating screening approaches in cancers where we do not currently have national screening programmes. The National Health Service Constitution (January 2009) also commits the NHS to providing screening programmes as recommended by the United Kingdom National Screening Committee. The department, the Medical Research Council and Cancer Research UK are currently funding the UK Collaborative Trial of Ovarian Cancer Screening. The trial began in 2000 and final results are expected in 2015. Over the next five years, the researchers will be looking at whether an ovarian cancer screening programme using these tests can reduce deaths from ovarian cancer. We will continue to monitor this research and evaluate the potential for new screening technologies as the evidence develops, working closely with the UK National Screening Committee.

Secondary information