National Cancer Institute

What National Cancer Institute does

The National Cancer Institute (NCI) is the U.S. federal government's principal agency for cancer research and information dissemination, established by the National Cancer Institute Act of 1937 and operating today as a component of the National Institutes of Health under the Department of Health and Human Services. NCI funds and conducts research across basic biology, genomics, treatment, prevention, early detection, and clinical trials, operating the NIH Clinical Center intramural program alongside extramural funding of a nationwide network comprising 73 NCI-Designated Cancer Centers, 3,100+ clinical trial sites, and training for over 5,000 fellows. Its core platforms include the cancer.gov public information portal, the PDQ evidence-based cancer information database, the Clinical Trials Search API, the SEER population-based cancer registry, the Genomic Data Commons, and the Cancer Grand Challenges global research funding initiative co-founded with Cancer Research UK. NCI's business model is non-commercial: it generates no revenue from products or services, provides all information free of charge, and is funded entirely through annual congressional appropriations — $7.22 billion in FY2025 — distributed via grants, cooperative agreements, contracts, and intramural research. Customer-facing engagement runs through cancer.gov, the Cancer Information Service (1-800-4-CANCER), and the NCI-Designated Cancer Center network serving patients, families, caregivers, healthcare professionals, and cancer researchers.

Name

National Cancer Institute

Legal name

National Cancer Institute

Website

https://cancer.gov

Company type

Private

Founded year

1937

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1,001–5,000 employees

Short description

The National Cancer Institute (NCI) is a U.S. federal agency, founded 1937 and part of the NIH, that funds and conducts cancer research, coordinates 73 designated cancer centers and 3,100+ clinical trial sites, and disseminates free cancer information to patients, clinicians, and researchers worldwide.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Cancer Research and Public Health Information

NAICS

Scientific Research and Development Services (5417), Research and Development in Biotechnology (except Nanobiotechnology) (541714)

SIC

Services-Commercial Physical & Biological Research (8731)

akta.pro primary industry

Non-Communicable Disease Prevention & Chronic Disease Programs (BPAIAJAI)

akta.pro secondary industries

Chronic Disease & NCD Program Evaluation (e.g., diabetes/CVD/cancer) (HLAJANAG), National Public Health Reference Laboratories (HLAJAIAA)

Keywords

• Cancer research
• Clinical trials
• Cancer information
• Biomedical research funding
• Public health research

Headquarters

HQ city

Bethesda

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Operations, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels12 records

Core offering

The National Cancer Institute (NCI) is the U.S. federal government's principal agency for cancer research and information dissemination. NCI conducts and supports cancer research across basic biology, genomics, treatment, prevention, and clinical trials; funds a nationwide network of cancer research institutions and clinical trial sites; provides free cancer information to patients, caregivers, healthcare professionals, and the public through cancer.gov and the Cancer Information Service; and operates data resources such as SEER and the Genomic Data Commons.

Product overview

The National Cancer Institute operates cancer.gov as its primary consumer-facing platform, providing comprehensive cancer information resources alongside a Clinical Trials Search API for programmatic access. The PDQ (Physician Data Query) database serves as the underlying evidence-based content repository powering patient and professional cancer information summaries. Supporting resources include the NCI Dictionaries, publications, and reports, while data infrastructure encompasses the SEER database and Genomic Data Commons. NCI also funds major research initiatives through Cancer Grand Challenges and maintains a network of 73 NCI-Designated Cancer Centers.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Cancer.gov Website Official NCI website serving as the nation's trusted source for comprehensive cancer information, providing evidence-based content on cancer types, treatment options, clinical trials, causes, prevention, diagnosis, and staging for patients, families, researchers, and healthcare professionals.
• Clinical Trials Search API

Quantifiable outcome

• Over 18.6 million cancer survivors in the U.S. (as of January 2025)
• +2 more outcomes

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles5 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

Yes

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

AI capability9 records

Feature4 records

Partnerships

18 partnerships are on record, tiered flagship, core and minor.

• NIH, FDA, ARPA-H, ONCflagshipStrategic or Co-development Partner · 23 June 2026Operation Trailblazer is a coordinated HHS-wide initiative where NIH, NCI, ONC, and ARPA-H are contributing specialized capabilities including AI tools, personalized gene-editing research, and streamlined trial activation processes to strengthen America's leadership in clinical trials.
• UCSD Moores Cancer CentercoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 18 June 2026NCI renewed UCSD Moores Cancer Center's core Cancer Center Support Grant, securing $25 million in federal funding over five years. The center achieved a 250% increase in clinical trial enrollments and reduced trial activation time from 224 days to 86.5 days under new director Dr. Diane Simeone.
• UC Davis Comprehensive Cancer CentercoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 17 June 2026NCI-funded ASPIRE (Asian American Cohort Study) is recruiting 20,000 participants aged 40-75 who have never been diagnosed with cancer. UC Davis, working with UCSF, is one of 20 academic institutions nationwide recruiting participants targeting Vietnamese and Hmong communities to study cancer disparities among Asian Americans.
• UCSFcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 17 June 2026UCSF collaborates with UC Davis on the NCI-funded ASPIRE study examining how factors such as stress, environmental exposures, and access to care may contribute to rising cancer rates among Asian Americans.
• University of Chicago Medicine Comprehensive Cancer CentercoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 8 June 2026NCI awarded UChicago Medicine a six-year, $5 million UG1 National Clinical Trials Network grant to continue as a Lead Academic Participating Site. The center operates nearly 350 active therapeutic trials with approximately 850 participants enrolled annually, with underrepresented minorities comprising 35% of trial participants.
• University of Chicago (NRG Oncology Statistics and Data Management Center)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 4 June 2026NCI awarded $66 million in renewal funding to support the NRG Oncology Statistics and Data Management Center, providing biostatistics, data management, and operational support for national clinical trials overseeing more than 100 active trials across multiple cancer types.
• LabcorpcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 June 2026Labcorp collaborates with the Alliance for Clinical Trials in Oncology on a national clinical trial sponsored by NCI to expand access to genetic testing among patients newly diagnosed with colorectal cancer. Labcorp serves as the study's exclusive genetic testing provider using its Invitae platform across trial sites in the US including Puerto Rico.
• Anixa Biosciences / Cleveland ClinicminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 June 2026NCI collaborated in the development of Anixa Biosciences' ovarian cancer vaccine technology using an anti-Müllerian hormone receptor 2 (AMHR2)-targeted approach. The Canadian Intellectual Property Office issued a Notice of Allowance expanding Anixa's international IP protection beyond existing U.S. patent.
• City of HopecoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 22 May 2026NCI co-sponsored a symposium with City of Hope where HHS Secretary RFK Jr. called for a 'moonshot' program focused on the role of the microbiome in cancer. NCI is expected to lead the proposed Human Microbiome Project Three program building on earlier HMP phases (2007-2016, $170M).
• ImmunityBiocoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 16 May 2026NCI-sponsored Phase III SWOG S1602 trial demonstrated non-inferiority of Japan BCG Laboratory's Tokyo-172 BCG strain versus TICE BCG for bladder cancer. ImmunityBio signed exclusive U.S. development rights to address the decade-long BCG shortage in the U.S.
• Uniformed Services UniversitycoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 30 April 2026Jointly organized the second annual Military Environmental Epidemiology Symposium (MEES) with USU, Department of Veterans Affairs, Defense Centers for Public Health-Aberdeen, and Canadian Department of National Defense. The symposium advanced research on environmental health impacts on service member readiness including PFAS exposure, extreme temperature effects, noise exposure, and particulate matter.
• Department of Veterans AffairscoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 30 April 2026Co-organized the Military Environmental Epidemiology Symposium (MEES) focusing on environmental health impacts on military personnel including PFAS exposure, extreme temperatures, noise, and particulate matter research.
• Foundation MedicinecoreTechnology or Integration · 10 March 2026Foundation Medicine expanded participation in NCI's ComboMATCH platform trials by adding its FoundationOne Liquid CDx blood-based biomarker test alongside its existing tissue-based FoundationOne CDx test. Foundation Medicine was the top contributor to the NCI MATCH precursor study from 2017-2023.
• ECOG-ACRINcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 10 March 2026ECOG-ACRIN leads the ComboMATCH initiative, the largest effort of its kind to test biomarker-targeted cancer treatment combinations. The partnership aims to identify therapies more effective than current standards of care.
• UT Southwestern Medical CentercoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 5 March 2026Jean-Laurent Casanova, a renowned genetics and immunology researcher, is joining UT Southwestern and was selected as part of a global team receiving a Cancer Grand Challenges award of up to $25 million to investigate the role of immune-modulating autoantibodies in cancer resistance.
• Cancer Research UKflagshipStrategic or Co-development Partner · 4 March 2026NCI co-founded Cancer Grand Challenges with Cancer Research UK, a global research funding initiative. The partnership announced a $125 million commitment to fund five international research teams with up to $25 million each over approximately five years to tackle ambitious questions in cancer research. Teams span 34 institutions across 9 countries. Total support for the initiative has reached $624 million since 2016.
• Various International Research Institutions (34 across 9 countries)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 4 March 2026Cancer Grand Challenges-funded teams include researchers from 34 institutions across 9 countries working on areas including: harnessing natural immunity to trigger cancer cell self-destruction, revealing hidden proteins in the cancer dark proteome, uncovering unknown causes of DNA damage, and investigating how brain signals might fight tumors.
• Veracyte (Decipher Prostate Database)coreTechnology or Integration · 21 April 2025NCI's SEER Program conducted database linkage enabling data from Veracyte's Decipher Prostate Genomic Classifier to be available alongside real-world patient outcomes in a specialized database. The collaboration includes de-identified data from over 560,000 prostate cancer cases diagnosed from 2010 to 2018.

Scale indicators12 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights7 records

Direct peers

• Cancer Research UK: Cancer Research UK is the UK's largest cancer research charity and co-founder (with NCI) of the Cancer Grand Challenges initiative. It is the most direct international peer in terms of mission, scale, and funding model, directly collaborating with NCI on $624M of joint research since 2016.
• American Cancer Society: ACS is the largest U.S. nonprofit cancer research and patient support organization, collaborating with NCI on survivor statistics (18.6M cancer survivors estimate) and co-funding research. It is a direct peer in cancer research funding and patient information dissemination, operating as a private-sector complement to NCI's federal role.
• German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ): DKFZ is Germany's national cancer research center and a Cancer Grand Challenges partner institution. It is the most direct international government peer to NCI in terms of scope, scale, and function, conducting basic, translational, and clinical cancer research with comparable international reach.
• International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC): IARC is the World Health Organization's specialized cancer research agency, conducting global cancer epidemiology and classification work (IARC monographs). It is a direct international peer in cancer research coordination and serves as the global counterpart to NCI's epidemiologic and cancer classification functions.

Emerging players

• MD Anderson Cancer Center: MD Anderson is one of the original NCI-designated Comprehensive Cancer Centers and a leading cancer research and treatment institution. While it receives NCI funding and is part of NCI's network, it also operates as a major independent research and clinical enterprise that competes for talent, trials, and translational impact.
• Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center: Memorial Sloan Kettering is an NCI-designated Comprehensive Cancer Center and one of the world's leading private cancer research and treatment institutions. It operates as an independent research powerhouse within NCI's network, often setting trends that NCI-supported programs follow.

Others

• Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC): CDC complements NCI's research mission with population-level cancer surveillance, prevention programs, and screening guidelines. The two agencies coordinate on public health initiatives, making CDC a strategic operational peer for NCI's prevention and population science divisions.
• Food and Drug Administration (FDA): FDA is a partner agency in Operation Trailblazer and serves as the regulatory gatekeeper for NCI-developed therapies and diagnostics. While not a direct competitor, FDA's review and approval decisions directly shape NCI research translation pathways and clinical trial design.

Broad incumbents

• National Institutes of Health (NIH): NIH is NCI's parent organization and the U.S. federal umbrella for biomedical research. While NCI is cancer-specific, NIH sets overall funding priorities and coordinates cross-institute initiatives (e.g., Operation Trailblazer), making it the most relevant broad incumbent for understanding NCI's positioning and resource allocation.
• National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID): NIAID is a fellow NIH institute with comparable budget scale and intramural research structure. As a sibling IC, it provides the closest peer benchmark for funding levels, operational structure, and federal research management practices within the NIH ecosystem.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat6 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/thenci
• YouTubeyoutube.com/NCIgov
• Facebookfacebook.com/cancer.gov
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/nationalcancerinstitute
• Instagraminstagram.com/nationalcancerinstitute

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles14 records

Subsidiaries1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments169 records

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Frequently asked questions about National Cancer Institute