The International Cancer Research Partnership (ICRP) is an active network of cancer research funding organizations, sharing information about funded research projects in a common database. Data are publicly available to enable the cancer research community to find potential collaborators and avoid duplication. This study presents an aggregated analysis of projects funded by 120 partner organizations and institutes in 2006-2018, to highlight trends in cancer research funding. Overall, the partners’ funding for cancer research increased from $5.562 billion (bn) US dollars (USD) in 2006 to $8.511bn USD in 2018, an above-inflation increase in funding. Analysis by the main research focus of projects using Common Scientific Outline categories showed that Treatment was the largest investment category in 2018, followed by Early Detection, Diagnosis, and Prognosis; Cancer Biology; Etiology; Control, Survivorship, and Outcomes; and Prevention. Over the 13 years covered by this analysis, research funding into Treatment and Early Detection, Diagnosis, and Prognosis had increased in terms of absolute investment and as a proportion of the portfolio. Research funding in Cancer Biology and Etiology declined as a percentage of the portfolio, and funding for Prevention and Control, Survivorship and Outcomes remained static. In terms of cancer site–specific research, funding for breast cancer and colorectal cancer had increased in absolute terms but declined as a percentage of the portfolio. By contrast, investment for brain cancer, lung cancer, leukemia, melanoma, and pancreatic cancer increased both in absolute terms and as a percentage of the portfolio.

The International Cancer Research Partnership (ICRP[1]) is an alliance of governmental and charitable organizations from the USA, Canada, Europe, Australia and Japan funding regional, national and international cancer research grants and awards. One key activity of the partnership is a database of information about member’s funded grant projects (N>60,000 grants, from 80 members, totalling over $14 billion USD). Each project is coded to a Common Scientific Outline (CSO), a classification system of broad areas of cancer research. Breast cancer is the most common cancer in women worldwide, however, only about 5-10% of breast cancer is attributable to genetic predisposition,[2] and about one third of cases are attributable to known genetic or other risk factors. In 2013, the Interagency Breast Cancer and Environmental Research Coordinating Committee (IBCERCC)[3] recommended that funding organizations plan strategically to accelerate the pace of scientific research on breast cancer and the environment. Thus, the ICRP has developed a mechanism to track activity and trends in research into environmental influences on breast cancer, to provide a baseline for future assessment of progress. Methods: ICRP-funded grants related to environmental influences on breast cancer were queried from the ICRP database. We focused on three time points: awards that were active in 2006, 2008 or 2010. The search resulted in a pool of 11983 breast cancer-relevant awards that was narrowed further to 1107 awards of relevance using a combination of keyword searches and specific Common Scientific Outline (CSO) codes.[4] Relevant awards were then coded with the assistance of keywords and manual review, to one or more, of 6 categories of environmental research: Behavior-Lifestyle, Behavior-Tobacco exposure, Chemicals-Chemical pollutants, Chemicals-Exogenous hormones, General Infection-Microorganisms and Radiation. Results: Between 2006 and 2010, the numbers of active awards declined and funding levels also fell. Most of the funded research is focused on behavioral/lifestyle factors in breast cancer (e.g., diet, alcohol intake, and shift work patterns). Further analysis of the Behavioral/Lifestyle category reveals that the major area of activity is in the role of nutrition/alcohol in cancer, closely followed by the contribution of obesity and reproductive factors (age of menarche, parity etc.). Conclusion: We were able to utilize a CSO ‘filter’ to identify trends in funded grant projects related to the environment and breast cancer. The decline in numbers and research funding between 2006 and 2010 is concerning. As breast cancer incidence continues to increase, research efforts to understand the causes of increased incidence are essential. Further research investment in these areas may be required. [1] https://www.icrpartnership.org/index.cfm [2] http://www.niehs.nih.gov/health/assets/docs_a_e/environmental_factors_and_breast_cancer_risk_508.pdf [3] https://www.niehs.nih.gov/about/assets/docs/summary_of_recs_508.pdf (Accessed 28/2/14) [4] CSO areas 2.1, 2.3, 1.2, 2.4, 6.2 (Etiology, Basic Biology of cancer initiation, and surveillance). Citation Format: Marc S Hurlbert, Senaida Poole, Kari Wojtanik, Samantha Finstad, Lynne Davies. ICRP analysis: Environmental influences in breast cancer [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the Thirty-Seventh Annual CTRC-AACR San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium: 2014 Dec 9-13; San Antonio, TX. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2015;75(9 Suppl):Abstract nr P2-09-02.

Traditional metrics used to assess the outcomes and impact of biomedical research, such as publications, citations, and follow-up grant funding, do not measure the impact on changes in health practice (standard of care), policy, guidelines, or other societal outcomes and may not be meaningful to stakeholders, such as patients, donors, or the public. Susan G. Komen has developed a research product tracking system to monitor the progress of Komen-funded research products

The International Cancer Research Partnership (ICRP) is an alliance of governmental and charitable organizations from the USA, Canada, Europe, Australia and Japan, funding regional, national and international cancer research grants and awards. One key activity of the partnership is the ICRP database of information about member’s funded grant projects (N>60,000 grants, from 80 members, totaling $13.6 billion USD). Each project is coded to a Common Scientific Outline (CSO) classification, a classification system of broad areas of cancer research. Obesity has been associated with an increased risk of developing several cancer types, including breast cancer. Worldwide, obesity rates have nearly doubled since 1980 (WHO), and there is significant concern that rising rates of obesity will result in additional obesity-related cancer incidence. Breast cancer is the most common cancer in women worldwide and its incidence has risen in most countries in the last 30 years.1 In addition, there is convincing research evidence that body fatness is linked to breast cancer incidence (postmenopause).2 With this in mind, the ICRP has analyzed obesity-related breast cancer research in its portfolio over three time periods: 2006, 2008 and 2010. Methods: Using a combination of keyword searches and manual review, a total of over 1040 awards over the period 2006-2010 were found in the ICRP portfolio that were related to obesity and cancer. Of these, 353 awards were considered to be relevant to breast cancer (relevance ≥25%). These were assessed by Common Scientific Outline (CSO) areas.3  Results: The numbers of obesity-relevant awards and research investment were higher for breast cancer than for any other cancer type in the ICRP portfolio from 2006 to 2010. Research was being conducted across all CSO areas, from basic biology, etiology, prevention, early diagnosis/prognosis to treatment and cancer survivorship. Between 2006 and 2010, there was a slight decrease in etiology research (CSO2), and an increase in research into cancer survivorship (CSO6). It is notable that training awards are increasing, indicating that the research organizations contributing data to this analysis consider workforce training to be a priority area. Conclusion: We were able to use the ICRP database to identify trends in funded grant projects related to obesity research and breast cancer. Despite increased numbers of awards, the overall stasis in research funding over this period, and the decline in investment in etiology is concerning. As breast cancer incidence continues to increase, research efforts to understand the causes of increased incidence are essential. Further research investment in these areas may be required. 1 http://globocan.iarc.fr/Pages/fact_sheets_cancer.aspx (accessed 7th January 2014) 2 World Cancer Research Fund / American Institute for Cancer Research. Continuous Update Project Report. Food, Nutrition, Physical Activity and the Prevention of Breast Cancer, 2010 3 https://www.icrpartnership.org/CSO.cfm Citation Format: Kari Wojtanik, Rhonda Aizenberg, Susan Higginbotham, Lynne Davies. ICRP analysis: Obesity research in breast cancer [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the Thirty-Seventh Annual CTRC-AACR San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium: 2014 Dec 9-13; San Antonio, TX. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2015;75(9 Suppl):Abstract nr P2-09-05.