Government funding for uterine cancer research lags behind rising incidence

Our plain-English summary of Government funding for uterine cancer research lags behind rising incidence, by R.P. Mojdehbakhsh, R.J. Spencer, N.G. Uczkowski, et al (Gynecologic Oncology Reports, 2026).

The study

• Authors: R.P. Mojdehbakhsh, R.J. Spencer, N.G. Uczkowski, A.L. Godecker
• Journal: Gynecologic Oncology Reports
• Published: 2026;65:102107
• Read it: PubMed · Publisher · Free full text

Abstract

Objectives: The second largest government funding source for cancer research is the Department of Defense (DOD). The Peer Reviewed Cancer Research Program (PRCRP) is the funding mechanism for uterine cancer under the DOD. Our objective was to compile cancer research funding granted through the PRCRP by organ site and stratify by incidence of disease to highlight uterine cancer funding.

Methods: To gather funding information from the PRCRP, a thorough review was done of the CDMRP website, where records of grants funded and the total budgets for the PRCRP had to be manually abstracted from archives.

Results: Uterine cancer has the second highest incidence of these areas (29.4 per 100,000 in 2021), after colorectal cancer (CRC) (37.5 per 100,000 in 2021). CRC has been funded the longest at 15 years. Mesothelioma, for comparison, has the lowest incidence (0.7 per 100,000 in 2021) and has been funded for 14 years. CRC, with the highest incidence and the longest funded area, has received a total of ∼$60 million through the PRCRP. Mesothelioma, with the lowest incidence and the second longest funded area has received ∼$25 million. Uterine cancer, with the second highest incidence, and one of the shortest funded areas, has received only ∼$14 million. Additionally, the incidence of uterine cancer is rising and has seen a 14.8% increase in incidence from 2009 to 2021 whereas CRC has seen a 15.0% decrease.

Conclusions: This analysis highlights a proportionate inequity in government funding for uterine cancer when considering the rising incidence of this disease.

© 2026 The Author(s).

In plain English

This short communication examined how the U.S. Department of Defense's Peer Reviewed Cancer Research Program (PRCRP) has funded research on different cancers, focusing on uterine (endometrial) cancer. The authors manually collected grant and budget records from program website archives for every year since 2009 and took incidence figures from the SEER database. They compared uterine cancer with the funded cancers of highest and lowest incidence: colorectal cancer and mesothelioma. Asbestos was not studied. Colorectal cancer (37.5 per 100,000 people in 2021) had been funded for 15 years and received about $60 million. Mesothelioma (0.7 per 100,000) had been funded for 14 years and received about $25 million. Uterine cancer (29.4 per 100,000) had been funded for 4 years, since 2021, and received about $14 million. The authors reported that uterine cancer incidence rose 15% from 2009 to 2021, while colorectal cancer incidence fell 15%. They concluded that there is a proportionate inequity in government funding for uterine cancer when its rising incidence is considered.

We wrote this plain-English summary from the full article with the help of AI, and a second AI model checked each sentence against the article. It is not the authors' wording; the abstract and the article are their own account.

What the study did and found

• Design: Short communication: descriptive review of publicly archived research funding records, compared against cancer incidence from the SEER database
• Who was studied: Cancer research areas funded by the U.S. Department of Defense Peer Reviewed Cancer Research Program from its start in 2009: 33 areas in total, 18 of them in 2024. Uterine cancer was compared with colorectal cancer and mesothelioma.
• Exposure: No asbestos or other exposure was studied. The article compares research funding amounts by cancer site.
• Main results:
  • Colorectal cancer was the highest-incidence cancer funded by the PRCRP: 37.5 per 100,000 people in 2021
  • Mesothelioma was the lowest-incidence cancer funded by the PRCRP: 0.7 per 100,000 people in 2021
  • Endometrial cancer had the second highest incidence: 29.4 per 100,000 people in 2021
  • Colorectal cancer had been funded for 15 years and received about $60 million in total through the PRCRP
  • Mesothelioma had been funded for 14 years and received about $25 million in total
  • Uterine cancer had been funded for 4 years and received about $14 million
  • Uterine cancer incidence rose 15% from 2009 to 2021, while colorectal cancer incidence fell 15%. The article's abstract gives these as 14.8% and 15.0%.
  • In 2023, uterine cancer research received $6M through the PRCRP, which the authors give as 0.4% of the total CDMRP budget
• The authors' conclusion: The authors concluded that there appears to be a proportionate inequity in government funding for uterine cancer when its rising incidence is considered.

Topics

Medical terms in this study, explained in our Lexicon: Colorectal Cancer, Mesothelioma.

Related studies

• What is hidden behind urban and semiurban cancer incidence and mortality differences in central Italy? — E. Crocetti, G. Miccinesi, et al. (2002)
• The San Francisco Bay epidemiology studies on asbestos in drinking water and cancer incidence: relationship to studies in other locations and pointers for further research — M.S. Kanarek (1983)
• Funding in the asbestos debate — S.W. Samuels (1992)
• Asbestos: a hidden player behind the cholangiocarcinoma increase? Findings from a case-control analysis — G. Brandi, S. Di Girolamo, et al. (2013)
• Decoding the molecular enigma behind asbestos and fibrous nanomaterial-induced carcinogenesis — S. Toyokuni, Y. Kong (2025)
• Structural Dynamics Behind the Formation of α'-Ni3Ga Alloy Nanoparticles from a Ni-Ga Phyllosilicate Dispersed on Silica Using X‑ray Probes — N.K. Zimmerli, D. Piankova, et al. (2025)

Browse more research in Gynecologic Oncology Reports, or return to medical research.