To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the written ministerial statement of 12 June 2006, Official Report, column 47WS, on Herceptin, whether she has received a progress report from the National Cancer Director on the availability of HER2 testing to all newly diagnosed breast cancer patients of all ages. (96673)

In March 2006, the national cancer director sought a progress report from cancer networks on the availability of HER2 testing for breast cancer patients in their area. This showed that there had been a significant improvement in the number of cancer networks providing HER2 testing for all women diagnosed with early breast cancer.

As set out in the written ministerial statement on 12 June, 28 out of 34 cancer networks reported that they were HER2 testing all women diagnosed with early stage breast cancer. The remaining six reported that they would be testing all these women by the end of this month, October 2006. A further progress report has not been requested.