AQW 50314/22-27
Ms Connie Egan
Alliance Party
North Down
Tabled Date: 02/07/2026
Answered On Date: 06/08/2026
Priority Written: No
Question:
To ask the Minister of Health, pursuant to AQW 48015/22-27, to detail the number of patients who have received homologous recombination deficiency testing since March 2026, broken down by (i) tumour type; and (ii) Health and Social Care Trust.
Answer:
Genomic profiling of cancers using next generation sequencing (NGS) was introduced in Northern Ireland (NI) in February 2022. While this represented a significant step forward, the panel in use at that time did not include the capability to assess homologous recombination deficiency (HRD) status. In March 2026, services transitioned to a new testing provider, enabling access to HRD testing through a send-away model coordinated via Belfast Health and Social Care (HSC) Trust. The introduction of this enhanced testing capability was communicated to oncology and pathology teams to ensure appropriate clinical uptake. At present, HRD testing is available for ovarian cancer patients only. Therefore, all patients tested since March 2026 had an ovarian tumour type. The number of patients who received HRD testing between March 2026 and June 2026 is shown below: HSC Trust | No of ovarian patients tested | Belfast | 22 | Northern | 13 | South Eastern | 7 | Southern | 6 | Western | <5* |
*Counts less than five have been suppressed to protect patient confidentiality and prevent potential identification of individuals
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