A Cross-Party Group of Scottish Parliamentarians has written to the Cabinet Secretary for Health, raising alarm over the exclusion of Scottish brain tumour patients from a key clinical trial of Proton Beam Therapy (PBT) available elsewhere in the UK.
The Cross-Party Group (CPG) on Brain Tumours, for which Brain Tumour Research provides the secretariat, highlighted concerns that patients in Scotland are currently unable to access the groundbreaking APPROACH trial, which is exploring whether PBT can significantly improve cognitive outcomes for people with primary brain tumours. While patients in England and Wales are participating in the study, Scots are being left behind due to a lack of funding to cover excess treatment costs – estimated at £100,000 per patient.
Professor Anthony Chalmers, Chair of Clinical Oncology at the University of Glasgow and Co-Lead of our Scottish Brain Tumour research Centre of Excellence, briefed the group at a recent meeting on the promising potential of PBT. Unlike traditional radiotherapy, PBT delivers highly targeted radiation to tumours, reducing damage to healthy brain tissue and helping preserve patients’ cognitive abilities.
However, the group has warned that Scotland’s failure to fund the additional costs associated with the trial risks widening health inequalities. NHS England and the Welsh Government have already put financial measures in place to support their patients’ participation, but no such provision currently exists in Scotland.
In their letter, the MSPs urged the Scottish Government to follow the example set by England and Wales by establishing a dedicated fund to remove this financial barrier.
“This is a matter of fairness and equity,” the letter reads. “Scottish patients deserve the same opportunity to benefit from cutting-edge treatments and to contribute to vital research as their counterparts elsewhere in the UK.”
The group, headed by Convener Beatrice Wishart MSP (pictured above), has called for an urgent meeting with the Cabinet Secretary to discuss potential solutions and ensure no Scottish brain tumour patient is denied access to potentially life-extending and life-enhancing therapies.
The Scottish Government has yet to respond to the letter.
What is Proton Beam Therapy?
Proton Beam Therapy is an advanced form of radiotherapy that uses protons rather than X-rays to target cancer cells. Its precision helps spare surrounding healthy tissue, making it particularly valuable for treating brain tumours and cancers in sensitive areas of the body.
What are excess treatment costs?
Excess treatment costs refer to the additional costs incurred when a patient receives a treatment that is part of a clinical trial but is more expensive than the standard treatment normally provided by the NHS.
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