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Nonprofit · London · United Kingdom

Cancer Research UK

In research, Cancer Research UK stands highest in Health Sciences (#278 of 9,902 worldwide), Medicine (#293 of 8,541 worldwide) and Life Sciences (#329 of 6,403 worldwide), 2022-now. Relative to its size it is most specialised in Cancer Research, Oncology and Immunology (Cancer Research is 13.1× its share of world research).

cancerresearchuk.orgROR OpenAlex
World rank, 2022-now
#834
of 22,385 · #684 all time
Rank in United Kingdom
#56
of 862
Research works
10k
▼ 17% vs 2018-21
Citations
779k
78.0 per fractional work
Top-10% rate
19.7%
all institutions 10.0%
vs its own fields
1.36×
1.00× is exactly expected
Open access
47%
world 40%
International
27%
world 18%
Cancer Research UK

What is Cancer Research UK known for in research?

The fields where it stands highest, 2022-now, ranked among every institution above the floor in each field.

FieldWorld rankWhere that sitsTop-10% rateWorksAll time
Health SciencesDomain #278 of 9,902 20.6%335 #275
MedicineField #293 of 8,541 20.6%324 #293
Life SciencesDomain #329 of 6,403 19.4%233 #303
Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular BiologyField #175 of 2,964 19.6%191 #196
Molecular BiologySubfield #165 of 1,880 19.8%116 #195
OncologySubfield #69 of 755 18.3%88 #65

Each strip is that field's whole ranked pool, with the notch where Cancer Research UK sits in it, in the colour of the band that rank falls in. The track under the rate is the rate itself: it carries no average mark, because the average differs by field (from about 6% in Dentistry to 21% in Economics).

Which of those standings moved

The same fields on both windows: where it stood over the whole record, and where it stands in 2022-now. The distance is the story, and it is the one thing the two rank columns above cannot show.

  1. Health Sciences#275 #278
  2. Medicine#293 #293
  3. Life Sciences#303 #329
  4. Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology#196 #175
  5. Molecular Biology#195 #165
  6. Oncology#65 #69
all time2022-now, better2022-now, worse

A dot further right is a better standing. Fields it was not ranked in over the whole record are left out.

Which fields of science does Cancer Research UK work in?

In 2022-now, 52% of research at Cancer Research UK is in Health Sciences, 37% in Life Sciences. Its largest fields are Medicine (50%), Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology (30%), Immunology and Microbiology (5%). It does 2.7× the world's share of Life Sciences.

Health Sciences: 382 fractional works · 52.3% of its workMedicine: 368 fractional works · 50.4% of its workOncology: 101 fractional works · 13.8% of its workPulmonary and Respiratory Medicine: 57 fractional works · 7.8% of its workRadiology, Nuclear Medicine and Imaging: 32 fractional works · 4.4% of its workSurgery: 30 fractional works · 4.1% of its workEpidemiology: 19 fractional works · 2.5% of its workPathology and Forensic Medicine: 14 fractional works · 1.9% of its workPublic Health, Environmental and Occupational Health: 13 fractional works · 1.8% of its workGenetics: 12 fractional works · 1.7% of its workPhysiology: 12 fractional works · 1.7% of its workHematology: 12 fractional works · 1.6% of its workReproductive Medicine: 9 fractional works · 1.3% of its workEndocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism: 5 fractional works · 0.6% of its workImmunology and Allergy: 4 fractional works · 0.6% of its workRheumatology: 4 fractional works · 0.6% of its workCardiology and Cardiovascular Medicine: 4 fractional works · 0.6% of its workNeurology: 4 fractional works · 0.5% of its workObstetrics and Gynecology: 4 fractional works · 0.5% of its workPediatrics, Perinatology and Child Health: 3 fractional works · 0.5% of its workPsychiatry and Mental health: 3 fractional works · 0.4% of its workOtorhinolaryngology: 3 fractional works · 0.4% of its workDermatology: 3 fractional works · 0.4% of its workHepatology: 3 fractional works · 0.4% of its workPharmacology: 3 fractional works · 0.3% of its workHealth Informatics: 2 fractional works · 0.3% of its workInfectious Diseases: 2 fractional works · 0.3% of its workNephrology: 2 fractional works · 0.2% of its workSmaller subfields together: 8 fractional works · 1.2% of its workHealth Professions: 11 fractional works · 1.5% of its workGeneral Health Professions: 8 fractional works · 1.1% of its workSmaller subfields together: 3 fractional works · 0.4% of its workDentistry: 1 fractional works · 0.1% of its workVeterinary: 1 fractional works · 0.1% of its workNursing: 1 fractional works · 0.1% of its workLife Sciences: 270 fractional works · 36.9% of its workBiochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology: 222 fractional works · 30.3% of its workMolecular Biology: 133 fractional works · 18.2% of its workCancer Research: 42 fractional works · 5.7% of its workGenetics: 17 fractional works · 2.3% of its workCell Biology: 16 fractional works · 2.2% of its workBiophysics: 5 fractional works · 0.7% of its workBiotechnology: 4 fractional works · 0.6% of its workBiochemistry: 2 fractional works · 0.2% of its workSmaller subfields together: 3 fractional works · 0.4% of its workImmunology and Microbiology: 36 fractional works · 5.0% of its workImmunology: 35 fractional works · 4.7% of its workSmaller subfields together: 2 fractional works · 0.2% of its workNeuroscience: 6 fractional works · 0.8% of its workCellular and Molecular Neuroscience: 3 fractional works · 0.4% of its workSmaller subfields together: 3 fractional works · 0.4% of its workAgricultural and Biological Sciences: 4 fractional works · 0.6% of its workPlant Science: 3 fractional works · 0.4% of its workSmaller subfields together: 1 fractional works · 0.2% of its workPharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutics: 1 fractional works · 0.2% of its workPhysical Sciences: 60 fractional works · 8.2% of its workEngineering: 17 fractional works · 2.3% of its workBiomedical Engineering: 14 fractional works · 1.9% of its workSmaller subfields together: 3 fractional works · 0.5% of its workComputer Science: 10 fractional works · 1.4% of its workArtificial Intelligence: 5 fractional works · 0.7% of its workComputational Theory and Mathematics: 2 fractional works · 0.3% of its workComputer Vision and Pattern Recognition: 2 fractional works · 0.3% of its workSmaller subfields together: 1 fractional works · 0.2% of its workChemistry: 10 fractional works · 1.4% of its workOrganic Chemistry: 6 fractional works · 0.8% of its workSpectroscopy: 4 fractional works · 0.5% of its workSmaller subfields together: 1 fractional works · 0.1% of its workPhysics and Astronomy: 9 fractional works · 1.3% of its workRadiation: 7 fractional works · 1.0% of its workAtomic and Molecular Physics, and Optics: 2 fractional works · 0.2% of its workSmaller subfields together: 0 fractional works · 0.0% of its workMathematics: 5 fractional works · 0.7% of its workStatistics and Probability: 3 fractional works · 0.4% of its workModeling and Simulation: 2 fractional works · 0.2% of its workSmaller subfields together: 1 fractional works · 0.1% of its workMaterials Science: 4 fractional works · 0.5% of its workMaterials Chemistry: 2 fractional works · 0.3% of its workSmaller subfields together: 1 fractional works · 0.1% of its workEnvironmental Science: 3 fractional works · 0.5% of its workChemical Engineering: 1 fractional works · 0.1% of its workEnergy: 0 fractional works · 0.0% of its workEarth and Planetary Sciences: 0 fractional works · 0.0% of its workSocial Sciences: 19 fractional works · 2.7% of its workSocial Sciences: 6 fractional works · 0.8% of its workSociology and Political Science: 3 fractional works · 0.4% of its workSmaller subfields together: 3 fractional works · 0.5% of its workEconomics, Econometrics and Finance: 6 fractional works · 0.8% of its workEconomics and Econometrics: 6 fractional works · 0.8% of its workPsychology: 4 fractional works · 0.6% of its workClinical Psychology: 2 fractional works · 0.2% of its workSmaller subfields together: 2 fractional works · 0.3% of its workDecision Sciences: 2 fractional works · 0.3% of its workBusiness, Management and Accounting: 1 fractional works · 0.1% of its workArts and Humanities: 1 fractional works · 0.1% of its workALL ITS WORKCancer ResearchUK731fractional works, 2022-now
Life Sciences37%Physical Sciences8%Health Sciences52%Social Sciences3%

Each ring splits the one inside it: the four domains of science, their fields, their subfields. Size is fractional works in 2022-now. Every slice is a page; the interactive view zooms down to single topics and colours each by how much more of it this institution does than the world.

Its 4 domains and 26 fields, with their numbers
    1. Medicine36850.4%
    2. Health Professions111.5%
    3. Dentistry10.1%
    4. Veterinary10.1%
    5. Nursing10.1%
    1. Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology22230.3%
    2. Immunology and Microbiology365.0%
    3. Neuroscience60.8%
    4. Agricultural and Biological Sciences40.6%
    5. Pharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutics10.2%
    1. Engineering172.3%
    2. Computer Science101.4%
    3. Chemistry101.4%
    4. Physics and Astronomy91.3%
    5. Mathematics50.7%
    6. Materials Science40.5%
    7. Environmental Science30.5%
    8. Chemical Engineering10.1%
    9. Energy00.0%
    10. Earth and Planetary Sciences00.0%
    1. Social Sciences60.8%
    2. Economics, Econometrics and Finance60.8%
    3. Psychology40.6%
    4. Decision Sciences20.3%
    5. Business, Management and Accounting10.1%
    6. Arts and Humanities10.1%
All of science, and how each field's share has moved since 1950: the Science domain explorer

What does Cancer Research UK specialise in?

Where its research is concentrated relative to its size: Cancer Research takes 13.1× the share of its output that it takes of world research.

  1. Cancer ResearchSubfield · 41.5 works13×
  2. OncologySubfield · 101.0 works12×
  3. ImmunologySubfield · 34.7 works6.9×
  4. Molecular BiologySubfield · 132.9 works6.0×
← less than its size predicts1×more →

Location quotient, a volume reading rather than an impact one. It surfaces small, lopsided specialities.

Field profile

Location quotient across every field it publishes in: outside the ring is more than an institution of this size would be expected to publish, inside it is less.

Agricultural and Biological Sciences: 0.12× its world share, 4 worksAgricultural and Bio…Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology: 5.69× its world share, 222 worksBiochemistry, Geneti…Immunology and Microbiology: 4.96× its world share, 36 worksImmunology and Micro…Neuroscience: 0.50× its world share, 6 worksNeurosciencePharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutics: 0.48× its world share, 1 worksPharmacology, Toxico…Chemical Engineering: 0.26× its world share, 1 worksChemical EngineeringChemistry: 0.87× its world share, 10 worksChemistryComputer Science: 0.18× its world share, 10 worksComputer ScienceEarth and Planetary Sciences: 0.01× its world share, 0 worksEarth and Planetary …Energy: 0.04× its world share, 0 worksEnergyEngineering: 0.16× its world share, 17 worksEngineeringEnvironmental Science: 0.09× its world share, 3 worksEnvironmental ScienceMaterials Science: 0.14× its world share, 4 worksMaterials ScienceMathematics: 0.60× its world share, 5 worksMathematicsPhysics and Astronomy: 0.58× its world share, 9 worksPhysics and AstronomyDentistry: 0.29× its world share, 1 worksDentistryHealth Professions: 0.59× its world share, 11 worksHealth ProfessionsMedicine: 2.62× its world share, 368 worksMedicineNursing: 0.17× its world share, 1 worksNursingVeterinary: 0.71× its world share, 1 worksVeterinaryArts and Humanities: 0.02× its world share, 0 worksArts and HumanitiesBusiness, Management and Accounting: 0.03× its world share, 1 worksBusiness, Management…Decision Sciences: 0.30× its world share, 2 worksDecision SciencesEconomics, Econometrics and Finance: 0.38× its world share, 6 worksEconomics, Econometr…Psychology: 0.18× its world share, 4 worksPsychologySocial Sciences: 0.07× its world share, 6 worksSocial Sciences1×world share
more than its size predictsabout as predictedless

Rings at 0.5×, 1× and 2×. Widest outward: Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology, 5.7×. Every wedge is a field page.

All 26 fields, with their numbers
  1. Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology5.69×222 works
  2. Immunology and Microbiology4.96×36 works
  3. Medicine2.62×368 works
  4. Chemistry0.87×10 works
  5. Veterinary0.71×1 works
  6. Mathematics0.60×5 works
  7. Health Professions0.59×11 works
  8. Physics and Astronomy0.58×9 works
  9. Neuroscience0.50×6 works
  10. Pharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutics0.48×1 works
  11. Economics, Econometrics and Finance0.38×6 works
  12. Decision Sciences0.30×2 works
  13. Dentistry0.29×1 works
  14. Chemical Engineering0.26×1 works
  15. Computer Science0.18×10 works
  16. Psychology0.18×4 works
  17. Nursing0.17×1 works
  18. Engineering0.16×17 works
  19. Materials Science0.14×4 works
  20. Agricultural and Biological Sciences0.12×4 works
  21. Environmental Science0.09×3 works
  22. Social Sciences0.07×6 works
  23. Energy0.04×0 works
  24. Business, Management and Accounting0.03×1 works
  25. Arts and Humanities0.02×0 works
  26. Earth and Planetary Sciences0.01×0 works

Who are the top researchers at Cancer Research UK?

Ranked on the quality score, Caetano Reis e Sousa, Stephen Craig West and Jesper Qualmann Svejstrup lead among researchers whose main affiliation is Cancer Research UK.

  1. 1 Caetano Reis e Sousa United Kingdom · #5,004 worldwide 47k citations · 314 works
  2. 2 Stephen Craig West United Kingdom · #19,679 worldwide 32k citations · 296 works
  3. 3 Jesper Qualmann Svejstrup United Kingdom · #35,931 worldwide 14k citations · 188 works
  4. 4 Facundo D. Batista United Kingdom · #36,069 worldwide 14k citations · 177 works
  5. 5 Hayley J. Luxton United Kingdom · #38,688 worldwide 16k citations · 70 works
  6. 6 Harshil Bhayani United Kingdom · #48,026 worldwide 5.5k citations · 28 works
  7. 7 Bradley Spencer‐Dene United Kingdom · #49,619 worldwide 22k citations · 154 works
  8. 8 Nicolas Tapon United Kingdom · #95,513 worldwide 9.5k citations · 86 works
  9. 9 Oliver Schulz United Kingdom · #97,282 worldwide 11k citations · 103 works
  10. 10 Dominique A. Bonnet United Kingdom · #104,433 worldwide 24k citations · 314 works
All ranked researchers at Cancer Research UK

What are the most cited papers from Cancer Research UK?

The most cited paper from Cancer Research UK is "Measuring inconsistency in meta-analyses" (Julian P. T. Higgins, Simon G. Thompson, Jonathan J Deeks et al., 2003), with 64,184 citations. Next come "Minimal information for studies of extracellular vesicles 2018 (MISEV2018): a position statement of the International Society for Extracellular Vesicles and update of the MISEV2014 guidelines" (11,535) and "Cancer-related inflammation" (11,477).

Most cited papers
#PaperReleasedCitations
1 Measuring inconsistency in meta-analyses Julian P. T. Higgins, Simon G. Thompson, Jonathan J Deeks et al. · BMJ Open access 4 Sep 2003 64,184
2 Minimal information for studies of extracellular vesicles 2018 (MISEV2018): a position statement of the International Society for Extracellular Vesicles and update of the MISEV2014 guidelines Clotilde Théry et al. · Journal of Extracellular Vesicles Open access382 authors 23 Nov 2018 11,535
3 Cancer-related inflammation Alberto Mantovani, Paola Allavena, Antonio Sica et al. · Nature Open access Jul 2008 11,477
4 Mutations of the BRAF gene in human cancer Helen Ruth Davies et al. · Nature Jun 2002 10,791
5 Signatures of mutational processes in human cancer Australian Pancreatic Cancer Genome Initiative et al. · Nature Open access 14 Aug 2013 10,284
All 59 most cited papers, with filters and sorting

Which keywords describe research at Cancer Research UK?

By fractional works in 2022-now, weighted toward what it does more of than the world: Cancer, Immunotherapy, Chemotherapy, Tumor Microenvironment, Targeted Therapy, Cancer Therapy, Clinical Trials and Prognostic Factors.

▲ more of its work than of the world's◆ about the world's share▼ less than the world's

Size is fractional works in 2022-now in the topics tagged with each word; colour is the word's share of this institution's work against its share of the world's. The 40 words are chosen for being large and distinctive. Each links to the topic it comes from most.

All 40 words, with their numbers
  1. Cancer63▲ 6.4×43 topics
  2. Chemotherapy55▲ 11×24 topics
  3. Immunotherapy55▲ 10×19 topics
  4. Tumor Microenvironment42▲ 13×8 topics
  5. Inflammation39▲ 2.5×63 topics
  6. Targeted Therapy38▲ 24×5 topics
  7. Clinical Trials36▲ 7.3×12 topics
  8. Cancer Therapy35▲ 8.5×16 topics
  9. Prognostic Factors28▲ 8.9×14 topics
  10. Genomic Instability28▲ 34×3 topics
  11. Biomarkers28▲ 5.4×13 topics
  12. Radiotherapy28▲ 9.5×12 topics
  13. Gene Expression27▲ 6.0×17 topics
  14. Cell-Free DNA22▲ 31×2 topics
  15. Precision Medicine22▲ 6.0×7 topics
  16. Immunity22▲ 7.3×10 topics
  17. Cancer Genomics21▲ 41×1 topic
  18. Mutational Signatures21▲ 41×1 topic
  19. Metastasis21▲ 8.3×12 topics
  20. Neoadjuvant Therapy21▲ 12×5 topics
  21. Cell Death19▲ 11×6 topics
  22. Genetic Mutations19▲ 5.8×17 topics
  23. Cancer Immunotherapy18▲ 16×3 topics
  24. Clinical Practice Guidelines18▲ 4.4×12 topics
  25. Apoptosis17▲ 7.5×15 topics
  26. Survival Analysis17▲ 8.4×7 topics
  27. Genomic Profiling16▲ 21×2 topics
  28. Breast Cancer16▲ 8.7×11 topics
  29. Immune Checkpoint Blockade16▲ 19×1 topic
  30. PD-1 and PD-L116▲ 19×1 topic
  31. Cancer Progression15▲ 11×8 topics
  32. Molecular Characterization14▲ 11×5 topics
  33. Prostate Cancer14▲ 14×5 topics
  34. Cancer Risk13▲ 8.2×8 topics
  35. Lymphoma12▲ 11×3 topics
  36. Transcriptional Regulation12▲ 10×9 topics
  37. Cancer Incidence12▲ 12×4 topics
  38. PET Imaging12▲ 9.5×4 topics
  39. Tumor Regression12▲ 14×2 topics
  40. Ovarian Cancer11▲ 17×3 topics

Which research topics does Cancer Research UK publish most on?

By volume in 2022-now: Cancer Genomics and Diagnostics, Cancer Immunotherapy and Biomarkers, Cancer Cells and Metastasis and Lung Cancer Treatments and Mutations.

Cancer Genomics and Diagnostics: 21 fractional worksCancer Immunotherapy and Biomarkers: 16 fractional worksCancer Cells and Metastasis: 10 fractional worksLung Cancer Treatments and Mutations: 9 fractional worksSingle-cell and spatial transcriptomics: 9 fractional worksCancer, Hypoxia, and Metabolism: 8 fractional worksRNA modifications and ca…8RNA modifications and cancer: 8 fractional worksEpigenetics and DNA Methylation: 8 fractional worksPancreatic and Hepatic Oncology Research: 8 fractional worksRadiomics and Machine Le…8Radiomics and Machine Learning in Medical Imaging: 8 fractional works
Cancer ResearchOncologyPulmonary and Respiratory MedicineMolecular Biology1 others

Area is fractional works; colour is the subfield each topic belongs to.

  1. 1 Cancer Genomics and Diagnostics Cancer Research 21 works
  2. 2 Cancer Immunotherapy and Biomarkers Oncology 16 works
  3. 3 Cancer Cells and Metastasis Oncology 10 works
  4. 4 Lung Cancer Treatments and Mutations Pulmonary and Respiratory Medicine 9 works
  5. 5 Single-cell and spatial transcriptomics Molecular Biology 9 works
  6. 6 Cancer, Hypoxia, and Metabolism Cancer Research 8 works
  7. 7 RNA modifications and cancer Molecular Biology 8 works
  8. 8 Epigenetics and DNA Methylation Molecular Biology 8 works
  9. 9 Pancreatic and Hepatic Oncology Research Oncology 8 works
  10. 10 Radiomics and Machine Learning in Medical Imaging Radiology, Nuclear Medicine and Imaging 8 works

How open and international is its research?

Against the world's own shares: the tick on each track. Both are shares of its output, so they sit on one scale and can be read against each other as well as against the world.

openly available47.4%not open52.6%

World: 40% of research is openly available.

with international co-authors27.2%domestic only72.8%

World: 18% is written across borders.

How has Cancer Research UK's research output changed?

Output in 2022-2025 was 17% lower than in 2018-2021.

still counting1990200020102020
grewheldshrank

The same series as a ribbon: one cell per year, darker for more. The line above answers how much; this answers when.

Its share of all research

Growing output can still be a shrinking share: all of science grows. This is Cancer Research UK as a percentage of every work published that year, 0.0028% in 2024.

still counting0.010%0.020%0.030%Cancer Research UK0.0027% in 202519801990200020102020

Fractional works of Cancer Research UK over all fractional works that year. How the balance of science has shifted.

How much of it reaches the world top 10%

Year by year, against all institutions in the same year.

still counting10%20%30%Cancer Research UK20.6% in 2025all institutions10.0% in 2025200020102020

Of each year's output, the share that reached the world's 10% most cited for its field and year. Peak 27.2% in 2014.

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Cancer Research UK on Science Explorer

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Its overall standing, then the domains, fields and subfields where Cancer Research UK is in the world's top ten or its top 1%. Each has an image of its own.

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