Explore an area to see the researchers, discoveries and scientific progress behind it.
What We Fund
We fund the research that moves cancer science forward
The next breakthrough can begin with a question no one has answered yet. NFCR supports ambitious cancer research—from understanding how cancer begins and spreads to developing better ways to detect, treat and ultimately overcome it.
100%NFCR is 100% donor-funded
- $420M+in research and program support since 1973
- 36research labs supported
- 100sof scientists funded across institutions worldwide
- Millionsof patients touched by research progress
Explore our research
From research to real-world impact
NFCR supports cancer research across the journey from discovery to application. Explore the work we’re funding, the breakthroughs that grew from decades of research, and the projects that need support today.
Research PortfolioSee where we’re investing
Explore the scientists, research programs and areas of cancer research supported by NFCR.
Explore the research portfolio
Discoveries Our Funding Made PossibleFollow the breakthroughs
See how long-term support for cancer research has contributed to discoveries that changed what scientists understand and how cancer is treated.
Explore the discoveries
Projects That Need Funding Right NowSupport what’s next
Meet promising research projects seeking funding today and see where your support can help move the science forward.
Fund a projectOur funding philosophy
Research without walls
Cancer doesn’t follow a single path — and neither should cancer research. NFCR supports scientists across disciplines, institutions and stages of discovery, giving promising ideas the time, freedom and collaboration they need to develop.
Long-term commitment
Important discoveries can take years or even decades. Sustained support gives scientists the freedom to follow the evidence, refine their ideas and pursue meaningful results.
High-risk, high-impact
We support rigorous research with the potential to change how cancer is understood, detected or treated — even when the path forward is uncertain.
Basic research first
Before cancer can be treated differently, it must be understood more deeply. Fundamental research reveals how cancer begins, grows, spreads and responds to intervention.
Global collaboration
Cancer crosses biological boundaries, disciplines and borders. NFCR connects researchers and expertise to accelerate learning and open new paths to discovery.
What we’ve helped advance
Areas of impact
For more than 50 years, NFCR-supported scientists have contributed to discoveries across the cancer research landscape. These areas represent some of the scientific questions, breakthroughs and advances shaped by that work.
Free Radicals & Antioxidants
Explore Free Radicals & AntioxidantsTumor Microenvironment & Angiogenesis
Explore Tumor Microenvironment & AngiogenesisOncogenes & Tumor Suppressor Genes
Explore Oncogenes & Tumor Suppressor GenesTransformative Therapies Development
Explore Transformative Therapies DevelopmentTargeted Therapies & Molecular Imaging
Explore Targeted Therapies & Molecular ImagingImmunology & Immunotherapy
Explore Immunology & ImmunotherapyGenomic Research & Biomarkers
Explore Genomic Research & BiomarkersMetastasis
Explore MetastasisGenetics
Explore GeneticsComputation & Cancer
Explore Computation & Cancer
Flagship initiativeFounding member · separate entity
Changing how treatments are tested for glioblastoma
Glioblastoma is one of the most difficult brain cancers to treat. GBM AGILE takes a different approach to clinical research—evaluating multiple therapies within an adaptive trial platform so evidence can help guide what happens next.
As a founding member, NFCR has helped advance this global, patient-centered effort to evaluate potential treatments more efficiently.
- Trial sites worldwide
- 40+
- Patients enrolled
- 2,000+
- Therapies tested in parallel
- Multiple
Research in progress
Fund a project directly
Breakthroughs begin as research questions. Today, scientists are working on new ways to detect cancer earlier, develop better treatments and overcome challenges that still stand between patients and better outcomes.
Explore the projects currently seeking support and choose where you want to help move the science forward.
DiagnosticsEarly-detection blood assay for pancreatic cancer
A low-cost liquid biopsy designed to help detect one of the deadliest cancers while it is still treatable.
Explore this project
Brain cancerNext-generation therapy arms for GBM AGILE
Opening new experimental treatment arms so more glioblastoma patients can participate in the search for effective therapies.
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ImmunotherapyMaking cold tumors visible to the immune system
Exploring combination strategies that could extend immunotherapy to cancers that do not respond to current approaches.
Explore this projectTrack record
Discoveries your support made possible
Cancer breakthroughs rarely happen overnight. They grow from questions asked years, even decades, before a discovery reaches patients.
Follow some of the scientific advances that grew from long-term cancer research and see how foundational discoveries can shape the future of diagnosis and treatment.
- 1980s
Tumor blood supply
Research into how tumors recruit and organize blood vessels helped establish the scientific foundations of anti-angiogenic approaches to cancer treatment.
- 1990s
Cancer metabolism
Foundational research deepened our understanding of how cancer cells use energy and how altered metabolism can contribute to cancer biology.
- 2000s
Targeted therapy
Research into oncogenes, tumor suppressor genes, genomics, biomarkers and molecular imaging helped advance more precise approaches to cancer treatment.
- 2020s
Adaptive clinical trials
NFCR-supported work has helped advance adaptive approaches such as GBM AGILE, designed to evaluate therapies more efficiently and respond to emerging evidence.
Fund the next breakthrough
The breakthroughs of the past show what sustained cancer research can make possible. The next ones will begin with scientists asking questions we cannot yet answer.
NFCR is supporting the research happening today—from fundamental discoveries to clinical innovation. With your support, promising ideas can keep moving from the lab toward patients.
Prefer to speak with someone? Call us to donate — 1-800-321-CURE.