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Subfield · Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology

Cancer Research research

Cancer Research is a subfield of Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology. Science Explorer counts 511k research works in it since 1950. 18.7% of them reached the world's top 10% most cited for their field and year.

In short: research into cancer to identify causes and develop strategies for prevention, diagnosis, treatment, and cure.

Research works
511k
fractional, since 1950
In the world top 10%
96k
per year above
Top-10% rate
18.7%
share of its works in the world top 10%
Topics
13
Growth, 2013–17 → 2018–22
+28%
the tick is no change

What is Cancer Research research about, and what is growing?

By the world's output in 2019–23, its most used keywords are Cancer, Gene Expression, Metastasis, Long Noncoding RNAs, RNA Regulation, Regulation. Gaining share since 2009–13: Cancer Genomics, Mutational Signatures, Long Noncoding RNAs, RNA Regulation, Biomarkers. Losing share: Ecteinascidin, Tetrahydroisoquinoline, Matrix Metalloproteinases, Tissue Inhibitors of Metalloproteinases.

▲ gaining share of this field◆ holding its share▼ losing share

Size is the world's fractional works in 2019–23 in the topics tagged with each word; colour compares the word's share of this field with 2009–13. Each links to the topic it comes from most.

All 33 words, with their numbers
  1. Cancer66k▲ 1.25×5 topics
  2. Gene Expression37k▲ 1.17×2 topics
  3. Metastasis28k◆ 1.10×2 topics
  4. Long Noncoding RNAs27k▲ 1.73×1 topic
  5. RNA Regulation27k▲ 1.73×1 topic
  6. Regulation27k▲ 1.19×2 topics
  7. Biomarkers24k▲ 1.51×1 topic
  8. MicroRNA24k▲ 1.51×1 topic
  9. Cancer Genomics20k▲ 1.75×1 topic
  10. Mutational Signatures20k▲ 1.75×1 topic
  11. HIF-115k▼ 0.70×1 topic
  12. Warburg Effect15k▼ 0.70×1 topic
  13. Breast Tumours12k▼ 0.82×1 topic
  14. Treatment Response12k▼ 0.82×1 topic
  15. Fatty Acid Synthase9,946◆ 0.89×1 topic
  16. Lipid Metabolism9,946◆ 0.89×1 topic
  17. NF-?B4,698▼ 0.47×2 topics
  18. Comet Assay4,485▼ 0.48×1 topic
  19. Genotoxicity Testing4,485▼ 0.48×1 topic
  20. Matrix Metalloproteinases4,128▼ 0.43×1 topic
  21. Tissue Inhibitors of Metalloproteinases4,128▼ 0.43×1 topic
  22. Inflammation3,056▼ 0.45×1 topic
  23. Signaling3,056▼ 0.45×1 topic
  24. Pharmacology2,399▼ 0.47×2 topics
  25. Apoptosis2,282▼ 0.57×2 topics
  26. Anti-inflammatory1,642▼ 0.54×1 topic
  27. Sesquiterpene Lactones1,642▼ 0.54×1 topic
  28. Ecteinascidin757▼ 0.36×1 topic
  29. Tetrahydroisoquinoline757▼ 0.36×1 topic
  30. Myxozoan683▼ 0.85×1 topic
  31. Parasite683▼ 0.85×1 topic
  32. Cantharidin640▼ 0.66×1 topic
  33. Protein Phosphatase Inhibitors640▼ 0.66×1 topic

Which countries lead Cancer Research research?

On research quality in 2022–2025, China, the United States and the United Kingdom rank highest in Cancer Research. By volume, China and the United States publish the most (33k and 18k works in 2022–2025).

By research quality, 2022–2025

  1. 1 China · #2 all time 23.7% top 10% · 33k works
  2. 2 United States · #1 all time 17.2% top 10% · 18k works
  3. 3 United Kingdom · #3 all time 19.8% top 10% · 2.5k works
  4. 4 Germany · #4 all time 20.0% top 10% · 2.6k works
  5. 5 Italy · #7 all time 24.1% top 10% · 2.7k works
  6. 6 India · #15 all time 13.2% top 10% · 3.9k works
  7. 7 France · #5 all time 18.4% top 10% · 1.6k works
  8. 8 South Korea · #14 all time 17.9% top 10% · 2.1k works
  9. 9 Australia · #9 all time 24.1% top 10% · 995 works
  10. 10 Canada · #6 all time 18.8% top 10% · 1.5k works

The track on each row is that row’s top-10% rate. The ranking itself is the composite score, which the rate is only one part of.

Of 44 countries ranked in Cancer Research. Composite of field-normalised excellence (50%), output (30%) and citations (20%); the bracket is the all-time rank.

All countries ranked in Cancer Research

By volume, 2022–2025

  1. 1 China 33k works
  2. 2 United States 18k works
  3. 3 India 3.9k works
  4. 4 Japan 2.9k works
  5. 5 Italy 2.7k works
  6. 6 Germany 2.6k works
  7. 7 United Kingdom 2.5k works
  8. 8 South Korea 2.1k works
  9. 9 Iran 1.9k works
  10. 10 Spain 1.6k works

How concentrated that is

The same countries as shares of everything the list above accounts for. A node where two countries do two thirds of the work and one spread evenly across twelve read alike as a ranking and not at all alike here.

China: 46.8%United States: 24.7%India: 5.5%Japan: 4.0%6 others listed: 19.0%47%largest
China33k · 46.8%United States18k · 24.7%India3,880 · 5.5%Japan2,871 · 4.0%6 others listed13k · 19.0%

Shares of the rows listed above, not of the whole node.

Which institutions lead Cancer Research research?

Sun Yat-sen University (China) ranks first in Cancer Research on research quality in 2022–2025, followed by Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences & Peking Union Medical College and Sichuan University.

By research quality, 2022–2025

  1. 1 Sun Yat-sen University China · Guangzhou · #17 all time 27.8% top 10% · 462 works
  2. 2 Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences & Peking Union Medical College China · Beijing · #30 all time 24.9% top 10% · 476 works
  3. 3 Sichuan University China · Chengdu · #43 all time 31.1% top 10% · 326 works
  4. 4 The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center United States · Houston · #2 all time 17.0% top 10% · 462 works
  5. 5 Central South University China · Changsha · #40 all time 29.0% top 10% · 355 works
  6. 6 Shanghai Jiao Tong University China · Shanghai · #36 all time 29.3% top 10% · 319 works
  7. 7 Harvard University United States · Cambridge · #1 all time 26.5% top 10% · 240 works
  8. 8 Nanjing Medical University China · Nanjing · #28 all time 24.0% top 10% · 399 works
  9. 9 Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center United States · New York · #4 all time 18.4% top 10% · 306 works
  10. 10 China Medical University China · Shenyang · #51 all time 27.6% top 10% · 304 works

The track on each row is that row’s top-10% rate. The ranking itself is the composite score, which the rate is only one part of.

Of 237 institutions above the floor of 40 fractional works in Cancer Research.

Top 100 Cancer Research institutions

By volume, 2022–2025

  1. 1 Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences & Peking Union Medical CollegeChina 476 works
  2. 2 The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer CenterUnited States 462 works
  3. 3 Sun Yat-sen UniversityChina 462 works
  4. 4 Nanjing Medical UniversityChina 399 works
  5. 5 Central South UniversityChina 355 works
  6. 6 Sichuan UniversityChina 326 works
  7. 7 Shanghai Jiao Tong UniversityChina 319 works
  8. 8 Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer CenterUnited States 306 works
  9. 9 China Medical UniversityChina 304 works
  10. 10 Huazhong University of Science and TechnologyChina 287 works

Who are the leading researchers in Cancer Research?

Among the most productive authors in Cancer Research, Gad Getz, Elisabete Weiderpass and Alberto Ortíz rank highest on the composite score.

  1. 1 Gad Getz United States · #31 worldwide 6.2k citations · 179 works
  2. 2 Elisabete Weiderpass France · #44 worldwide 6k citations · 183 works
  3. 3 Alberto Ortíz Spain · #52 worldwide 5.9k citations · 191 works
  4. 4 Daniel J. Sargent United States · #93 worldwide 4.1k citations · 146 works
  5. 5 Amirhossein Sahebkar Iran · #123 worldwide 5.6k citations · 243 works
  6. 6 Matthew Meyerson United States · #149 worldwide 4.2k citations · 138 works
  7. 7 Walter C. Willett United States · #154 worldwide 6.8k citations · 360 works
  8. 8 Charles M. Perou United States · #156 worldwide 4.2k citations · 229 works
  9. 9 Ahmedin Jemal United States · #157 worldwide 4.9k citations · 122 works
  10. 10 Bert Vogelstein United States · #173 worldwide 7.1k citations · 114 works

Re-ranked on the composite score from the 5,445 highest-output authors in Cancer Research. Identities come from OpenAlex author disambiguation, which occasionally merges or splits people.

Top 100 Cancer Research researchers

Where is Cancer Research research done?

The largest centres of Cancer Research research in 2022–2025 are Beijing (China), Shanghai (China), Guangzhou (China) and Nanjing (China). Among places with at least 20 works in it, it is an unusually large share of all research in Cambridge, San Carlos and Duarte.

Largest cities, 2022–2025

  1. 1 Beijing China 3.1k works
  2. 2 Shanghai China 2.6k works
  3. 3 Guangzhou China 2.3k works
  4. 4 Nanjing China 1.4k works
  5. 5 Wuhan China 1.3k works
  6. 6 Hangzhou China 1.2k works
  7. 7 Seoul South Korea 1.1k works
  8. 8 Changsha China 1.1k works
  9. 9 New York United States 1k works
  10. 10 Chengdu China 973 works

Where it is the local speciality

  1. Cambridge28.3 works24×
  2. San CarlosUS · 24.7 works18×
  3. Duarte20.5 works17×
  4. RutherfordUS · 20.4 works16×
← less than its size predicts1×more →

Location quotient: how much more of its research is in Cancer Research than the world average.

See Cancer Research on the map

Cancer Research research by country

The best places for Cancer Research research inside each country, with that country's researchers and world standing.

Where is the best place to study Cancer Research?

Among universities, judged by research, China Medical University, Nanjing Medical University and Harbin Medical University score highest, combining excellence, specialisation, size, growth and international reach. Research strength is one signal when choosing where to study; it does not measure teaching.

0%20%40%mean 25.33%fractional works in this node (log) →share in the world top 10% →China Medical University: 304, 27.6%Nanjing Medical University: 399, 24.0%Harbin Medical University: 253, 23.2%Shanghai Medical College of Fudan University: 83, 34.1%Guangzhou Medical University: 188, 23.8%Kunming Medical University: 155, 17.8%Southern Medical University: 235, 26.8%Dalian Medical University: 147, 25.7%Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences & Peking Union Medical College: 476, 24.9%Guiyang Medical University: 82, 25.4%Shanghai Medical Col…China Medical Univer…Nanjing Medical Univ…Harbin Medical Unive…
above the meannear itbelow it

One dot per university in the table below. The upper left is the interesting corner: small places doing unusually strong work.

#UniversityScoreTop 10%SpecialisationWorksGrowth
1 China Medical UniversityChina 68.927.6%10.8×304 +51.0%
2 Nanjing Medical UniversityChina 66.624.0%9.0×399 +65.1%
3 Harbin Medical UniversityChina 65.723.2%14.4×253 +79.5%
4 Shanghai Medical College of Fudan UniversityChina 64.634.1%11.7×83 +55.8%
5 Guangzhou Medical UniversityChina 60.423.8%8.0×188 +98.4%
6 Kunming Medical UniversityChina 60.317.8%9.9×155 +135.2%
7 Southern Medical UniversityChina 60.126.8%7.4×235 +53.6%
8 Dalian Medical UniversityChina 60.025.7%8.8×147 +81.0%
9 Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences & Peking Union Medical CollegeChina 58.924.9%5.6×476 +40.0%
10 Guiyang Medical UniversityChina 58.025.4%7.0×82 +344.1%

Universities only. Score blends excellence (30%), specialisation (25%), size (20%), growth (15%) and international reach (10%), 2015–2022; growth compares 2010–14 with 2015–19.

Is Cancer Research research growing?

Output in 2018–2022 was 28% higher than in 2013–2017, peaking in 2022. The fastest-growing topics are MicroRNA in disease regulation, Cancer-related molecular mechanisms research and Cancer Genomics and Diagnostics.

19801990200020102020
grewheldshrank

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

Which topics inside it are moving

Growth and decline on one axis around a shared zero. Two lists side by side hide the thing that matters: whether the growth dwarfs the decline, or the other way round.

  1. MicroRNA in disease regulation+480%
  2. Cancer-related molecular mechanisms research+337%
  3. Cancer Genomics and Diagnostics+312%
  4. Cancer, Lipids, and Metabolism+83%
  5. Breast Cancer Treatment Studies+65%
  6. Cancer, Hypoxia, and Metabolism+62%
  7. NF-κB Signaling Pathways-9%
  8. Carcinogens and Genotoxicity Assessment-9%
  9. Synthesis and Biological Activity-15%
  10. Protease and Inhibitor Mechanisms-16%
← shrinkingno changegrowing →

Growth in output from 2005–09 to 2015–19. Every topic is a page of its own.

What does Cancer Research include?

Cancer, Hypoxia, and Metabolism: 79k fractional worksCancer-related molecular mechanisms research: 70k fractional worksMicroRNA in disease regu…66kMicroRNA in disease regulation: 66k fractional worksCancer Genomics and Diag…60kCancer Genomics and Diagnostics: 60k fractional worksBreast Cancer Treatment Studies: 54k fractional worksCarcinogens and Genotoxicity Assessment: 49k fractional worksCancer, Lipids, and Metabolism: 43k fractional worksProtease and Inhibitor Mechanisms: 38k fractional worksNF-κB Signaling Pathways: 23k fractional worksSesquiterpenes and Asteraceae Studies: 12k fractional worksSynthesis and Biological Activity: 8,326 fractional worksBeetle Biology and Toxicology Studies: 4,126 fractional works

Area is fractional works in that topic. Every name below is a page of its own.