Question reference: S6W-00675
- Asked by: Foysol Choudhury, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
- Date lodged: 14 June 2021
-
Current status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 13 July 2021
Question
To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to ensure that all pancreatic cancer patients are considered for pancreatic enzyme replacement therapy at the point of diagnosis.
Answer
The Scottish Government is aware of the vast challenges in attempting to ensure pancreatic enzyme replacement therapy is offered to every patient at the point of diagnosis.
Pancreatic cancer patients can present as asymptomatic despite pancreatic exocrine insufficiency, while patients can also be diagnosed through many different pathways.
This can result in clinicians not always having the specialist knowledge and experience to know about the importance of pancreatic enzyme replacement therapy.
The Scottish Governments National Cancer Recovery Plan will help address this knowledge gap by working to review Cancer Clinical Management Guidelines in liaison with relevant parties.
Under the National Cancer Recovery Plan, we have funded the Scottish HepatoPancreatoBiliary Cancer Network (SHPBN) which is reviewing guidelines to address this issue.