Published on 4 February 2026, the National Cancer Plan marks a long-overdue shift in how brain tumours are recognised and prioritised within cancer planning in England, setting out the Government’s approach to improving cancer diagnosis, treatment and patient support.
For the brain tumour community, this moment matters deeply. Outcomes have remained stubbornly poor for decades. Late diagnosis, limited treatment options and slow translation of research into clinical practice continue to define too many experiences. The National Cancer Plan signals a change in direction, but its impact will depend on how its commitments are delivered in practice.
What does the Cancer Plan mean for the brain tumour community?
Each year, more than 12,700 people in the UK are diagnosed with a brain tumour – the biggest cancer killer of children and adults under 40.
Brain tumours remain one of the least survivable cancers, with a five-year survival rate of just 13%. Despite this, they receive only around 3% of national cancer research funding. These disparities underline why sustained national focus and leadership are essential.
For years, we have called on government to take action to improve diagnosis, treatment, care and research for brain tumours. The National Cancer Plan is a welcome step forward, particularly in its focus on rare and less survivable cancers – but progress will only be meaningful if it is measured and sustained.
Why there is hope
The Plan sets out commitments that, if delivered well, could make a real difference for people affected by brain tumours. These include increased research activity for rare cancers, faster adoption of innovation into clinical practice, and expansion of specialist capacity.
Turning these commitments into impact will require clear leadership, sustained investment and accountability for delivery.
Improving access to clinical trials
A key development in the Plan is the commitment to improve access to clinical trials for people with rare cancers, including brain tumours.
Our Barriers to Research Participation report has shown that people with brain tumours often struggle to access trials due to lack of information, geographical barriers and limited research infrastructure. Access too often depends on where someone lives, rather than whether they are clinically eligible.
The Plan’s proposals to strengthen leadership for trials and to connect patients to research opportunities more systematically could help address these challenges and accelerate progress towards more personalised and effective treatments.
Increased research activity for rare cancers
The Plan also commits to strengthening research into rare cancers and expanding access to genomic testing as part of routine care – long-standing priorities for the brain tumour community.
Renewed investment, beginning with the £13.7 million NIHR Brain Tumour Research Consortium funding, has the potential to support more high-quality, innovative research across the UK and help drive the next generation of breakthroughs for patients and families.
These commitments sit alongside the Government’s ambition to improve survival outcomes by 2035, including for less common cancers such as brain tumours. Progress towards this ambition must be tracked transparently.
A focus on faster diagnosis
The Plan places renewed emphasis on improving diagnostic pathways. This is particularly important for brain tumours, where symptoms can be vague and delays are common.
Our work on brain tumour diagnoses shows nearly half of people with high-grade brain tumours are diagnosed through emergency presentation, which is associated with poorer outcomes. We therefore welcome the commitment to reduce emergency cancer diagnoses and the recognition that better data is needed for cancers that cannot be staged using traditional measures.
The Plan’s commitment to publishing regular data on emergency cancer diagnoses as a proxy for diagnostic timeliness is an important step forward.
Turning ambition into delivery: accountability and data
As brain tumours are not staged in the same way as most solid tumours, people affected by brain tumours have often been missed by standard cancer targets and performance measures. This has left progress poorly tracked and accountability weak.
To address this, we are calling for a national brain tumour dataset that links diagnostic routes and timeliness, access to treatment and care, participation in research, outcomes, and patient experience. This would allow progress to be measured properly, variation in care identified, and gaps in delivery addressed.
Regular, transparent progress reviews will be essential to ensure responsibility for improving outcomes is clear and that commitments translate into real change.
What’s missing – and what we’re doing about it
Delivering the ambitions of the National Cancer Plan will depend on having workforce capacity across specialist roles. Our recent policy reports have highlighted the impacts of the chronic workforce shortages across neuro-oncology teams and more broadly within the NHS, including variation in specialist expertise and limited dedicated time for research and trials. These existing barriers to better care and innovation will continue without action taken to ensure there is a protected and fully funded workforce plan.
Moreover, the Plan applies only to England, as health policy is devolved across the UK. While some of the Plan’s actions may influence practice beyond England, responsibility for cancer policy and delivery in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland sits with their respective governments. Further action is needed to ensure brain tumour outcomes do not diverge across the UK.
We will continue to work with our partners in the devolved nations to push for the policies, investment and accountability needed to improve brain tumour outcomes. Currently, Wales is the only UK nation without a cancer strategy, and we are working with our Wales Cancer Alliance colleagues to call for Welsh Government action to develop and implement a clear plan to improve outcomes for all cancers in Wales.
There is also a need for specific focus on the community affected by non-cancerous, low-grade brain tumours, who often live with long-term impacts but do not fit neatly into existing cancer programmes. While the National Cancer Plan is an important step forward, the brain tumour community still needs a dedicated National Brain Tumour Strategy to bring diagnosis, care, rehabilitation, research, workforce planning and data together within a single, coordinated framework.
Chief Executive of The Brain Tumour Charity, Dr Michele Afif, said:
“For the brain tumour community, this National Cancer Plan marks a meaningful shift in how brain tumours are prioritised within cancer planning in England.
The Plan recognises that brain tumours, alongside other less survivable cancers, have not seen the same improvements in survival as many other cancers. This acknowledgement reflects long-standing calls for change from people affected by brain tumours and those who support them. This shift is underpinned by commitments to increase rare cancer research funding, accelerate innovation into practice, expand specialist capacity, and implement the provisions of the Rare Cancers Bill.
We are grateful to the many organisations and individuals who have helped bring us to this point, including other brain tumour charities and partners such as Cancer Research UK, Brain Tumour Research, Braintrust, Brain Tumour Support, Brain Cancer Justice, Pancreatic Cancer UK, Blood Cancer UK, Cancer 52, the Less Survivable Cancers Taskforce, and the APPG on Brain Tumours, alongside our trustees and founders, our involvement champions and young ambassadors, our researchers, clinicians, and the many supporters who have signed petitions, written to decision-makers and donated to make this progress possible.
The Brain Tumour Charity will continue to work closely with government, the NHS and partners across research, healthcare, industry and the rare cancer community to ensure these commitments are delivered, and that brain tumours remain a priority as the Plan moves from ambition to implementation – leading to real and lasting improvements in survival and outcomes for people and families affected.”