Funding of Cancer Research: Do Levels Match Incidence and Mortality Rates?

The incidence and mortality rates of the ten most prevalent cancers types in the US were compared with the National Cancer Institute's funding of clinical studies in 2012. Additionally, a sampling of print and broadcast media coverage of these ten cancer types were gathered for the same year. While funding per case and per annual death broadly matched cancer prevalence, significant exceptions existed. Breast cancer research is funded at the highest level on both a per-case and a per-death basis. Funding far exceeds that of any other cancer regardless of the measure examined. While second in prevalence in the US, actual dollars spent on breast cancer research in 2012 were more than double the dollars spent for the most prevalent cancer (prostate). Also, media mentions for breast cancers were nearly twice those for prostate cancers in 2012. Is the possible influence of public awareness, either by the media directly or through patient or specific cancer research advocacy groups, influencing the funding of cancer? Have we have reached a point where breast cancer is now overfunded by the National Cancer Institute relative to prostate cancer and other less publicly visible, yet nevertheless still deadly, cancers?