The Trump administration鈥檚 broadsides against scientific research have caused unprecedented upheaval at the National Cancer Institute, the storied federal government research hub that has spearheaded advances against the disease for decades.
NCI, which has long benefited from enthusiastic bipartisan support, now faces an exodus of clinicians, scientists, and other staffers 鈥� some fired, others leaving in exasperation.
After years of accelerating progress that has reduced cancer deaths by a third since the 1990s, the institute has terminated funds nationwide for research to fight the disease, expand care, and train new oncologists. 鈥淲e use the word 鈥榙rone attack鈥� now regularly,鈥� one worker said of grant terminations. 鈥淚t just happens from above.鈥�
The assault could well result in a perceptible slowing of progress in the fight against cancer.
Nearly 2 million Americans are diagnosed with malignancies every year. In 2023, cancer killed more than , making it the second-leading cause of death after heart disease. But the cancer fight has also made enormous progress. Cancer mortality in the U.S. has , according to the American Cancer Society. There are roughly in the country.
That trend 鈥渨e can very, very closely tie to the enhanced investment in cancer science by the U.S. government,鈥� said Karen Knudsen, CEO of the Parker Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy and a globally recognized expert on prostate cancer.
鈥淲e鈥檙e winning,鈥� Knudsen said. 鈥淲hy we would let up, I really don鈥檛 understand.鈥�
This article is based on interviews with nearly two dozen current and former NCI employees, academic researchers, scientists, and patients. 麻豆女优 Health News agreed not to name some government workers because they are not authorized to speak to the news media and fear retaliation.
鈥淚t鈥檚 horrible. It鈥檚 a crap show. It really, really is,鈥� said an NCI laboratory chief who has worked at the institute for three decades. He鈥檚 lost six of the 30 people in his lab this year: four scientists, a secretary, and an administrator.
鈥淚f we survive I will be somewhat surprised,鈥� he said.
After a mandate by the Department of Health and Human Services and the Department of Government Efficiency to slash contract spending by more than a third, the cancer institute is cutting contracts to maintain precious biological specimens used in its research, according to three scientists. 鈥淭he required contract cuts are going to be devastating,鈥� a senior scientist said.
On the NCI campus in Bethesda, Maryland, scientists describe delays in getting essential supplies 鈥� 鈥渓iterally anything that goes into a test tube or a petri dish,鈥� a recently departed clinician said 鈥� because of staffing cuts and constant changes in policies about what they can order.
Even the websites that publish new evidence on cancer treatment and diagnosis aren鈥檛 being updated, because HHS fired workers who managed them. And when NCI scientists do communicate with outsiders, what they say has been severely restricted, according to documents viewed by 麻豆女优 Health News. Forbidden topics include mass firings, President Donald Trump鈥檚 executive orders, and 鈥淒EIA鈥� 鈥� diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility.
The turmoil at the National Institutes of Health鈥檚 largest arm could haunt the country and the world for years to come.
鈥淚 really, really don鈥檛 understand what they鈥檙e trying to achieve,鈥� said Sarah Kobrin, chief of NCI鈥檚 health systems and interventions research branch. 鈥淚t just doesn鈥檛 make sense.鈥�
鈥淓fforts that are lifesaving now are being curtailed,鈥� one scientist said. 鈥淧eople will die.鈥�
Years of Bipartisan Support
Initially, some workers said, they thought the cancer institute might be spared. HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has called chronic disease 鈥� cancer is one 鈥� 鈥溾�� to the country. Cancer research, with multiple NCI-funded breakthroughs in genetics and immunotherapy, has sidestepped the political minefields around other public health issues, like vaccination.
鈥淧eople who care about cancer might be the biggest lobby in the country,鈥� said Paul Goldberg, editor and publisher of The Cancer Letter, which has monitored oncology science and policy since 1973.
Count Mike Etchamendy, 69, of Big Bear Lake, California, as part of that lobby. Since 2013 he鈥檚 flown to the East Coast scores of times to participate in five clinical trials at the cancer wing of NIH鈥檚 Clinical Center.
鈥淭hey call it the House of Hope,鈥� Etchamendy said. Between drugs, therapeutic vaccines, and expert treatment for his rare bone cancer, called chordoma, he said, he believes he鈥檚 gained at least 10 years of life. He鈥檚 proud to have served as a 鈥渓ab rat for science鈥� and worries about NCI鈥檚 future.
鈥淧eople come from all over the world to learn there,鈥� Etchamendy said. 鈥淵ou cut funding there, you鈥檙e going to cut major research on cancer.鈥�
In response to a list of detailed questions from 麻豆女优 Health News about the cuts and chaos at NCI, HHS spokesperson Andrew Nixon said the reporting amounted to a 鈥渂iased narrative鈥� that 鈥渕isrepresents a necessary transformation at the National Cancer Institute.鈥� Nixon declined to elaborate but said research into cancer and other health conditions continues to be a high priority 鈥渇or both NIH and HHS.鈥�
鈥淲e are refocusing resources on high-impact, evidence-based research 鈥� free from ideological bias or institutional complacency. While change can be uncomfortable for those invested in the status quo, it is essential to ensure that NCI delivers on its core mission,鈥� he said.
Much of NCI鈥檚 work is authorized by the National Cancer Act of 1971, which expanded its mandate as part of President Richard Nixon鈥檚 鈥淲ar on Cancer.鈥� Three of four of the cancer institute鈥檚 research dollars go to outside scientists, with most of the remainder funding more than 300 scientists on campus.
And Congress was generous. Harold Varmus, whose work was funded by NCI, said budgets were usually handsome when he was NIH director from 1993 through 1999. President Bill Clinton 鈥渨ould say to me, 鈥業鈥檇 like to give you a bigger increase, Harold, but your friends in Congress will bring it up.鈥� He鈥檇 offer me a 5% increase,鈥� Varmus recalled, but 鈥淚鈥檇 end up getting more like 10%鈥� from Congress.
Congress appropriated $2 billion to NCI in fiscal 1993. By 2025, funding had risen to $7.22 billion.
Rat on Your Colleagues
During a May 19 town hall meeting with NIH staff members, Jay Bhattacharya, the institute鈥檚 new director, equivocated when asked about funding cuts for research into improving the health of racial and ethnic minorities 鈥� cuts made under the guise of purging DEI from the government.
According to a recording of the meeting obtained by 麻豆女优 Health News, Bhattacharya said the agency remained 鈥渁bsolutely committed to advancing the health and well-being of every population, including minority populations, LGBTQ populations, and every population.鈥�
Research addressing the health needs of women and minorities is 鈥渁n absolute priority of mine,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e鈥檙e going to keep funding that.鈥� But a study considering whether 鈥渟tructural racism causes poor health in minority populations鈥� is 鈥渘ot a scientific hypothesis.鈥�
鈥淲e need scientific ideas that are actionable, that improve the health and well-being of people, not ideological ideas that don鈥檛 have any chance of improving the health and well-being of people,鈥� he said. That comment angered many staffers, several said in interviews. Many got up and walked out during the speech, while others, watching remotely, scoffed or jeered.
Several current and former NCI scientists questioned Bhattacharya鈥檚 commitment to young scientists and minorities. Staffing cuts early in the year eliminated many recently hired NCI scientists. At least 172 National Cancer Institute grants, including for research aimed at minimizing health disparities among racial minorities or LGBTQ+ people, were terminated and hadn鈥檛 been reinstated as of June 16, according to a 麻豆女优 Health News analysis of HHS documents and a list of grant terminations by outside researchers.
Those populations have higher rates of certain cancer diagnoses and are more likely to receive diagnoses later than white or heterosexual people. Black people are also of many cancer types than all other racial and ethnic groups.
Jennifer Guida, a researcher who focuses on accelerated aging in cancer survivors, said she recently left NCI after a decade in part because of the administration鈥檚 DEI orders. According to several workers and internal emails viewed by 麻豆女优 Health News, those included an HHS edict in January to report their colleagues who worked on such issues, and flagging grants that included DEI-related terms because they didn鈥檛 align with Trump鈥檚 priorities.
鈥業鈥檓 not going to put my name attached to that. I don鈥檛 stand for that. It鈥檚 not OK,鈥� said Guida, who added that it amounted to a 鈥渟crubbing of science.鈥�
Racial discrimination is that contributes to accelerated aging. 鈥淭here are a growing number of cancer survivors in the U.S.,鈥� Guida said, and 鈥渁 significant number of those people who will become cancer survivors are racial and ethnic minorities.鈥�
鈥淭hose people deserve to be studied,鈥� she said. 鈥淗ow can you help those people if you鈥檙e not even studying them?鈥�
In May, NCI informed leaders of the Comprehensive Partnerships to Advance Cancer Health Equity, a program that links 14 large U.S. cancer centers with minority-serving colleges and universities, that their funding would be cut. The project鈥檚 Notice of Funding Opportunity 鈥� the mechanism the government uses to award grants 鈥� had been suddenly taken offline, meaning NCI staffers couldn鈥檛 award future funding, according to three sources and internal communications viewed by 麻豆女优 Health News. These 鈥渦npublishings鈥� have often occurred without warning, explanation, or even notification of the grantee that no more money would be coming.
The cancer partnerships have trained more than 8,500 scientists. They鈥檙e designed to address widely documented disparities in cancer care by having top medical schools place students from rural, poor, and minority-serving schools and community clinics in research, training, and outreach.
Research shows that patients from racial and ethnic minorities receive better medical care and have improved outcomes when their clinicians share their background.
鈥淚鈥檓 from an immigrant family, the first to graduate in my family,鈥� said Elena Martinez, a professor of family medicine and public health at the University of California-San Diego, who leads one of the partnerships with colleagues at largely Hispanic San Diego State University. 鈥淚 wouldn鈥檛 be here without this kind of program, and there won鈥檛 be people like me here in the future if we cut these programs.鈥�
Silencing the Science Communicators
In early April, when the dust settled after mass firings across HHS, workers in NCI鈥檚 communications office were relieved they still had their jobs.
It didn鈥檛 last. A month later, HHS fired nearly all of them, three former workers said. Combined with retirements and other departures, a skeleton crew of six or seven remain of about 75 people. 鈥淲e were all completely blindsided,鈥� a fired worker said. NCI leadership 鈥渉ad no idea that this was happening.鈥�
As a result, websites, newsletters, and other resources for patients and doctors about the latest evidence in cancer treatment aren鈥檛 being updated. They include and NCI鈥檚 widely used Physician Data Query, which compile research findings that doctors turn to when caring for cancer patients.
Gary Kreps, founding director of the Center for Health and Risk Communication at George Mason University, said he relied on Physician Data Query when his father was diagnosed with advanced stomach cancer, taking PDQ printouts when he met with his dad鈥檚 doctors. 鈥淚t made a huge difference,鈥� Kreps said. 鈥淗e ended up living, like, another three years鈥� 鈥� longer than expected 鈥� 鈥渁nd enjoyed the rest of his life.鈥�
As of May 30, banners at the top of the Cancer.gov and PDQ websites said, 鈥淒ue to HHS restructuring and reduction in workforce efforts, the information on this website may not be up to date and pages will indicate as such.鈥� The banners are gone, but neither website was being updated, according to a fired worker with knowledge of the situation.
Outdated PDQ information is 鈥渞eally very dangerous,鈥� Kreps said.
Wiping out NCI鈥檚 communications staff makes it harder to share complex and ever-changing information that doctors and patients need, said Peter Garrett, who headed NCI鈥檚 communications before retiring in May. Garrett said he left because of concerns about political interference.
鈥淭he science isn鈥檛 finished until it鈥檚 communicated,鈥� he said. 鈥淲ithout the government playing that role, who鈥檚 going to step in?鈥�
A Budget To 鈥楧estroy Clinical Research鈥�
Following court decisions that blocked some NIH grant cancellations or rendered them 鈥渧oid鈥� and 鈥渋llegal,鈥� NIH official Michelle Bulls in late June told staffers to stop terminating grants. However, NCI workers told 麻豆女优 Health News they continue to review grants flagged by NIH to assess whether they align with Trump administration priorities. Courts have ordered NIH to reinstate some terminated grants, but not all of them.
At NCI and across NIH, staffers remain anxious.
The White House wants Congress to slash the cancer institute鈥檚 budget by nearly 40%, to , as part of a larger proposal to sharply reduce NIH鈥檚 fiscal 2026 coffers.
Bhattacharya has said he wants NIH to fund more big, breakthrough research. Major cuts could have the opposite effect, Knudsen said. When NCI funding shrinks, 鈥渋t鈥檚 the safe science that tends to get funded, not the science that is game changing and has the potential to be transformative for cures.鈥�
Usually the president鈥檚 budget is dead on arrival in Congress, and members of both parties have expressed doubt about Trump鈥檚 2026 proposal. But agency workers, outside scientists, and patients fear this one may stick, with devastating impact.
It would force NCI to suspend all new grants or cut existing grants so severely that the gaps will close many labs, said Varmus, who ran NCI from 2010 to 2015. Add that to the impact on NCI鈥檚 contracts, clinical trials, internal research, and salaries, he said, and 鈥測ou can reliably say that NCI will be unable to keep up in any way with the promise of science that鈥檚 currently underway.鈥�
The NCI laboratory chief, who has worked at the institute for decades, put it this way: 鈥淚f the 40% budget cut passes in Congress, it will destroy clinical research at NCI.鈥�
麻豆女优 Health News correspondent Rae Ellen Bichell contributed to this report.