The Cancer Money Trail: Where Does the Cancer Research Money Come From?
Before we ask where the money goes, we need to know where it comes from.
Cancer research is funded through a complex network of governments, charities, foundations, universities, international organisations, private donors and commercial companies. There is no single global cancer-research bank account, and no single figure captures everything spent.
The first problem: defining the money
A major global analysis identified 107,955 public and philanthropic cancer-research awards worth $51.4 billion between 2016 and 2023. That is a substantial body of funding, but it should not be described as the total amount the world spent on cancer research. The dataset covers public and philanthropic awards and does not capture all commercial research and development.
Who supplied the public and philanthropic funding?
The United States accounted for $29.3 billion, or 57.2%, of the funding identified in the study. The National Institutes of Health alone accounted for $21.9 billion, or 42.6%. The United Kingdom accounted for $5.7 billion (11.1%), Australia $1.5 billion (2.9%), and Canada $1.3 billion (2.6%). High-income countries together accounted for about 97% of the funding identified.
The concentration is striking. It does not by itself prove that cancer research funding is ineffective, but it does show that the global research system is heavily dependent on wealthy countries and their institutions.
The United States: a major public funding engine
In the United States, the National Cancer Institute is one of the central public funders of cancer research. In fiscal year 2025, NCI recorded approximately $7.22 billion in obligations from appropriated funds. Of its extramural funding, about $5.47 billion went outside NCI, with 86.3% provided through grants and 13.7% through contracts.
Within that extramural total, research project grants accounted for about $3.41 billion, while cancer centres and specialised centres accounted for about $607 million. For fiscal year 2026, Congress provided NCI with an appropriation of $7.35 billion.
Charities are another major source
Government funding is only part of the picture. In the United Kingdom, Cancer Research UK reported spending £403 million on research in 2024/25 and committing £419 million to cancer research, infrastructure, investigator-led programmes and training fellowships.
Large charities can therefore operate at a scale that makes them important parts of the research system, supporting universities, research centres, laboratories, clinical programmes and researchers.
Where philanthropy fits
Private donations and philanthropic campaigns can add another layer of funding. Cancer Research UK reported that its More Research, Less Cancer campaign had raised £250 million by February 2026 toward a £400 million goal.
Philanthropy can be especially important when donors choose to support areas that may be difficult to fund through conventional public programmes. But philanthropic priorities can also shape which questions receive attention.
Universities and research institutions
Much of the money does not remain with the organisation that originally raises or awards it. Governments and charities commonly fund universities, hospitals, research institutes and individual research teams. The money can then support laboratory work, clinical studies, staff, equipment, data, infrastructure and training.
This makes the cancer-money trail more complicated than simply asking which organisation received a grant. To understand where money ultimately goes, we need to follow the chain from funder to institution, project, researcher, technology and eventual outcome.
Industry is part of the picture — but measured differently
Pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies also spend heavily on cancer research and development, particularly on medicines and clinical development. But commercial R&D is not measured in exactly the same way as government and philanthropic grants.
That is why the $51.4 billion public-and-philanthropic figure should not be added casually to a separate estimate of commercial R&D and presented as one audited global total. The categories, years and accounting methods need to match first.
International organisations
The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), part of the World Health Organization, provides another example of how international cancer research is funded. Its regular budget is primarily supported by assessed contributions from participating states, alongside voluntary contributions and other funds.
IARC reported a 2024–25 regular budget of about €48.68 million. Its 2025 expenses were about €51.9 million, with funding coming through its regular budget, voluntary contributions and other sources.
The global imbalance
The funding pattern raises a wider question. If about 97% of the public and philanthropic cancer-research funding identified in the global study came from high-income countries, what does that mean for diseases and treatment needs in lower-income countries?
WHO's analysis of the global cancer R&D landscape found that clinical trials are concentrated in high-income countries. It also identified major gaps: 63 countries in the data examined had no registered cancer trials, while some cancers with substantial burdens in low- and middle-income countries were comparatively understudied. Research was also disproportionately focused on novel drugs, with surgery, radiotherapy, diagnostics and palliative care receiving less attention.
The money map
The cancer research system can therefore be viewed as several connected funding streams:
- Governments — national research agencies and public health programmes.
- Charities and foundations — fundraising, grants and targeted programmes.
- Universities and institutions — recipients and research infrastructure.
- Pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies — commercial research and development.
- International organisations — cross-border research, coordination and standards.
- Private donors — individual and philanthropic contributions.
US Policy Grid separates public, philanthropic and commercial funding wherever the underlying data allow it. Figures from different datasets are not combined unless their definitions, periods and coverage are comparable. Facts, estimates and uncertainty are identified separately.
The first finding
The first part of the money trail is clear: cancer research is not funded by one system. It is a network, and that network is heavily concentrated in wealthy countries.
But knowing where money comes from is only the beginning.
Next Sunday — Part 3: What Does Each Country Contribute?
← Read Part 1: Before the Money
Sources
- National Cancer Institute — FY2025 Extramural Funding
- National Cancer Institute — Budget
- World Health Organization — Global cancer R&D landscape
- Cancer Research UK — Annual Report and Accounts
- IARC — Funding
- Global cancer research funding analysis — 2016–2023
Research note: The $51.4 billion figure refers specifically to identified public and philanthropic awards in the 2016–2023 dataset. It is not a complete measure of global cancer R&D spending.
Part 1 · Part 2 · Part 3 coming next Sunday