Andrew Selous MP: We should do more to tackle the biggest-killing cancer among the under 40s – brain tumours

Andrew Selous is the Member of Parliament for South West Bedfordshire and is the new Chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group on Brain Tumours.  Follow Andrew on Twitter.

In the long battle against cancer, brain tumours are a rare exception to a story of general progress. They have actually increased by a quarter in the last three decades. Thankfully, we are now at a stage where only five per cent of breast cancer patients and seven per cent of prostate cancer patients die within a year of diagnosis. But 58 per cent of brain tumour patients die within a year.

Perhaps most tragically, brain tumours are the leading cause of cancer deaths in children – and in adults under 40. Almost three quarters of brain tumour deaths occur in those under 75, whilst for cancer as a whole it is less than half. Because they strike so young, each brain tumour robs someone of an average of more than 20 years of life, more than any other cancer.

Even in the toughest fiscal environment, there is a case for allocating a fairer proportion of existing funding into vital research into the causes of, and treatment for, brain tumours. This is not government making unaffordable commitments: the vast bulk of cancer research funding in the UK comes from the charitable sector – but too little of it seems focused on this major killer.

Andrew Selous MP: Every family matters

Andrew Selous, Shadow Minister for Family Welfare and Child Support, looks at ways that the costs of social breakdown can be assuaged by pro-family policies.

In my local press I have written recently about the social breakdown that lead over the summer to the horrific murders of four year old Leticia Wright by her mother and her partner, 15 year old Jessie James for not wanting to join a gang and the married father of three daughters, Garry Newlove, who was trying to prevent his car from being ransacked. Since then, we have had the horrific murder of Rhys Jones, caught in the crossfire of rival gangs.   

We need the toughest possible criminal justice system to deter, punish and rehabilitate those responsible for the appalling crimes, but we also need to step back and see what we have to do as a nation to restore civility and reverse the spiral of social breakdown that has lead to these incidents and many more across the United Kingdom. In this article I want to suggest some positive policies to end the costs of social breakdown looking particularly at the family.