Oncology by the numbers
Where the oncology work is happening, from public trial, publication and grant records. Updated October 13, 2026.
14,329recruiting interventional trialsClinicalTrials.gov
102,636papers published in 2025OpenAlex
$4.9BNIH grants to outside institutions, fiscal year 2025 (9,462 projects)NIH RePORTER
569new NIH R01 grants in fiscal year 2025NIH RePORTER
Most published institutions
Papers in 2024–2025. KOLs cluster where the work is.
- The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer CenterUS2,909
- Harvard UniversityUS2,433
- Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer CenterUS2,186
- Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences & Peking Union Medical CollegeChina2,057
- InsermFrance1,813
- Dana-Farber Cancer InstituteUS1,755
- Mayo ClinicUS1,611
- Fudan UniversityChina1,527
- Massachusetts General HospitalUS1,500
- Sun Yat-sen UniversityChina1,401
Most NIH funding
Grants in fiscal year 2025. Funded labs are building and buying.
- University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center289 grants$153M
- Sloan Kettering Institute for Cancer Research221 grants$119M
- University of California, San Francisco210 grants$113M
- Stanford University196 grants$105M
- Dana-Farber Cancer Institute173 grants$103M
- Massachusetts General Hospital183 grants$97M
- University of Pennsylvania189 grants$94M
- Washington University185 grants$93M
- University of Michigan at Ann Arbor192 grants$88M
- Johns Hopkins University184 grants$87M
Where trials are recruiting
Recruiting interventional trials with a site in each country.
United States5,730
China4,852
France1,253
Spain952
Canada889
Italy865
Australia795
South Korea727
Phase 1: 3,706 · Phase 2: 5,841 · Phase 3: 1,570 (a two-phase study counts in both). 23% led by industry.
Fastest-growing research topics
Keywords on papers, 2022 to 2025. New topics bring new voices.
- immune evasion536 → 1,2232.3×
- cancer-associated fibroblasts606 → 1,2942.1×
- immunotherapy resistance490 → 1,0362.1×
- CAR T-cell therapy1,983 → 3,8231.9×
- cytokine release syndrome694 → 1,2951.9×
- multiple myeloma447 → 8331.9×
Sources, as of October 13, 2026:
ClinicalTrials.gov (Recruiting interventional studies, condition: cancer); OpenAlex (Papers whose main topic is in the OpenAlex subfield Oncology); NIH RePORTER (NIH extramural grants in fiscal year 2025 in NIH's "Cancer" research category (RCDC); sub-projects, NIH in-house research and contracts excluded).
Where KOLs show up
Oncology is too big for one KOL list: the people who lead breast cancer trials are not the ones shaping lung cancer or cell therapy. Start with the cancer type, target, or modality you sell into, then look in these places.
Congresses
ASCO and ESMO are where practice-changing trial results are presented, and AACR is where the science comes first. Subspecialty meetings matter as much: SITC for immunotherapy, SABCS for breast cancer, and ASH for blood cancers. Invited speakers and session chairs are the clearest public sign of standing in the field. See which organizations are going in our guides to ESMO 2026, SITC 2026, SABCS 2026, AACR 2027 and ASCO 2027.
Guidelines and trial networks
NCCN guideline panels and the ASCO and ESMO guideline committees set the standard of care. In the US, the groups of NCI's National Clinical Trials Network (such as Alliance, ECOG-ACRIN, NRG Oncology and SWOG) and the NCI-designated cancer centers run much of the academic trial work, so their disease committee chairs and site investigators are natural candidates.
Start from the numbers
The institutions publishing the most and winning the most NIH funding are where oncology KOLs cluster, and the fastest-growing keywords show which topics are gaining new voices. For the method, read how to find key opinion leaders, or search any field with the KOL Finder.