World Cancer Day: What Does Cancer Look Like in 2026?

Each year on February 4, World Cancer Day serves as a global initiative to raise awareness, improve education, and catalyze personal, collective, and government action against the disease. For oncology nurses and advanced practice providers (APPs), this day provides an opportunity to review the evolving landscape of cancer care through the lens of the most recent epidemiological data and the shifting priorities of federal research funding.

Cancer Incidence and Survival

According to the American Cancer Society’s Cancer Statistics, 2026, report and the accompanying Cancer Facts & Figures 2026 summary, approximately 2,114,850 new invasive cancer cases are projected to be diagnosed in the United States this year.^1,2 This figure translates to roughly 5,800 new diagnoses every day. Mortality projections indicate that over 626,140 people will die from the disease in 2026, the equivalent of approximately 1,720 deaths per day. While cancer remains the second-leading cause of death in the U.S. overall, it remains the leading cause of death for individuals younger than 85 years.

Despite these totals, the long-term trend in cancer mortality reflects significant progress. As of 2023, the age-adjusted cancer death rate had dropped by 34% from its peak in 1991, averting an estimated 4.8 million deaths. This decline is largely attributed to reductions in smoking, advances in treatment, and improvements in early detection.

These clinical interventions are also reflected in 5-year relative survival rates, which notably reached 70% for all cancers combined for the diagnosis period of 2015 to 2021. However, survival varies significantly by site; while prostate and thyroid cancers each report survival rates of 98%, pancreatic and liver cancers remain at 13% and 22%, respectively.

Lung cancer remains the most significant contributor to cancer mortality, with an estimated 124,990 deaths expected in 2026. It continues to cause more deaths than colorectal and pancreatic cancers—the second and third leading causes of cancer death—combined. In terms of incidence, prostate cancer is the most frequently diagnosed cancer in men, accounting for nearly one-third of new cases, while breast cancer accounts for nearly one-third of new diagnoses in women. Notably, approximately 40% of all newly diagnosed cancers in US adults are potentially avoidable, including those associated with risk factors such as tobacco use, excess body weight, and alcohol consumption.

Cuts to NCI Funding

Future progress against cancer is currently challenged by significant budgetary shifts. As outlined in the National Cancer Institute’s (NCI) Congressional Justification for Fiscal Year 2026, the President’s Budget request for the NCI is $4,530.8 million.³ This amount represents a decrease of $2,690.4 million, a 37.3% reduction from last year.

Funding for research project grants (RPGs) is set to decrease by $1,267.6 million to a total of $2,015.2 million. The budget is set to fund 872 competing RPG, prioritizing early-stage investigators. Half of the RPG budget will go toward award that fully fund outyear commitments in the initial grant award. Non-competing RPGs are set to be awarded 90% of their full commitment total.

Research centers are taking a $276.8 million cut to reach a final $338.7 million. These funds will be used to support NCI-designated cancer centers. Funding for other research is being reduced by $127.9 million, reaching a total of $459.6 million. Research and development contracts are taking a $281.3 million hit, bringing funding down to $442.9 million. This budget will be in part allocated toward “critical shared infrastructure across NIH” and the Frederick National Laboratory for Cancer Research.

Further budget cuts will hit training awards, intramural research, research management and support, and buildings and facilities.

How Will Budget Cuts Affect Cancer Research?

In a resource from the American Society of Clinical Oncology, the organization explained that federal funding through the NCI and NIH is the “backbone” of US cancer research.⁴ Unlike industry research, federally funded research investigates areas not commercially driven including pediatric cancers, rare cancers, and new drugs.

ASCO noted that a funding reduction of this magnitude would directly impact patient care by slowing the development of new treatments. Such cuts may discourage young scientists from entering the field, potentially leading to a “brain drain,” which results in fewer innovative discoveries and a slower pace of progress. For nurse and providers, this translates to a significantly less equipped battery of tools to combat cancer.

Further, the proposed cuts would disproportionately affect basic research, which provides the necessary groundwork for future breakthroughs. ASCO highlighted that strategic federal investment has already achieved historic successes, such as increasing the 5-year survival rate for childhood acute lymphocytic leukemia (ALL) from 10% to over 90% and moving the survival rate for metastatic melanoma from less than 10% a decade ago to over 50% today.

References

1. American Cancer Society. Cancer Facts & Figures 2026. Accessed February 3, 2026. https://www.cancer.org/content/dam/cancer-org/research/cancer-facts-and-statistics/annual-cancer-facts-and-figures/2026/2026-cancer-facts-and-figures.pdf
2. Siegel RL, Kratzer TB, Wagle NS, Sung H, Jemal A. Cancer statistics, 2026. CA Cancer J Clin. 2026;76(1):e70043. doi:10.3322/caac.70043
3. Congressional Justification FY 2026. National Cancer Institute. Accessed February 3, 2026. https://www.cancer.gov/about-nci/budget/congressional-justification/fy2026-nci-congressional-justification.pdf