Less Survivable Cancers Awareness Week 2026

Last week was the second awareness week hosted by Less Survivable Cancers Taskforce, which Pancreatic Cancer Action is proud to be member of. The theme for the 2026 awareness week was ‘Close the Research Gap’, where we called on the UK Government to tackle the research gap between less survivable cancers and all other cancers.

What is the Less Survivable Cancer Taskforce?

Pancreatic Cancer Action is proud to be supporting members of the Less Survivable Cancers Taskforce. This taskforce is made up of charities that represent the 6 less survivable cancer types in the UK, demanding change from the government for patients and their families. These cancer types are brain, liver, lung, stomach, oesophageal and of course, pancreas.

What were the outcomes of our Less Survivable Cancers Awareness Week 2026 meeting?

Information obtained from a series of Freedom of Information (FOI) requests shows that research into the less survivable cancers receives less than one-fifth (18.92%) of all government-funded cancer research despite them accounting for nearly 40% of all common cancer deaths in the UK. Less survivable cancers receive approximately £130 less in research funding per cancer death compared to the average across all other cancers, which is £310 per cancer death.

Research is vital for improving cancer survival rates yet continues to be overlooked and underfunded. Over 95,000 people are diagnosed with a less survivable cancer in the UK every year, so we need to #CloseTheResearchGap.

On Tuesday 13th January, the taskforce hosted a parliamentary evening reception in Scottish parliament sponsored by Jackie Baillie MSP, Co-Convener of the Cross-Party Group on Cancer in Scotland. The event saw a network of MSPs, charity and patient representatives and researchers come together to campaign for change. The event highlighted the groundbreaking research taking place in Scotland, where the majority of which is either privately funded or funded from outside of the UK. In light of the May 2026 elections, a call to action was given for residents of Scotland to call on their local MSPs to help #CloseTheResearchGap.

What's next for the Less Survivable Cancer Taskforce?

On Wednesday 14th January, the Less Survivable Cancers Taskforce for Scotland met with Jenni Minto MSP, Minister for Public Health and Women’s Health and her team at St. Andrews House in Edinburgh.

The objectives of the meeting wasere to influence the upcoming cancer action plan in Scotland, ensuring a focus on the less survivable cancers and to build support for a dedicated national research lead for rare and less survivable cancers.

To improve outcomes for less survivable cancers, the Scottish Government should address the gaps in data collection and limited transparency across Scotland, which currently make it difficult to monitor progress effectively.

Wednesday 4th February 2026 is World Cancer Day, and a new National Cancer Plan for England is expected to be published. In April 2025, The Less Survivable Cancer Taskforce submitted their consultation response to the National Cancer Plan to influence its direction and impact. They called for the Government to consider less survivable cancers specifically, highlighting earlier diagnosis of cancer, improving access to and quality of cancer treatment and improving patient experience as priorities. 

You can read their consultation response here: https://lesssurvivablecancers.org.uk/impact/

How you can support the Less Survivable Cancer Taskforce push for change

We are encouraging all UK residents to email their local political representative to raise the need for increased research funding into the Less Survivable Cancers and encourage them to engage with the Less Survivable Cancers Taskforce. For more information on how to do this, please visit: https://lesssurvivablecancers.org.uk/awarenessweek/