The field at a glance
All pancreatic cancer research in our records, year by year
Researchers published 4,936 papers tagged pancreatic cancer in 2025, up 12% from 2024. In 2026, partial (to date): 5,129 so far. 394 trials tagged pancreatic cancer started in 2025, down 5% from 2024. In 2026, partial (to date): 399 so far. NIH put $325.8 million (dollars counted) into grants tagged pancreatic cancer in fiscal year 2025, up 4% from 2024. In 2026, partial (to date): $282.9 million so far.
Papers published
- 4,0072020
- 4,6952021
- 4,5322022
- 4,3672023
- 4,4042024
- 4,9362025
- 5,1292026partial (to date)
papers tagged pancreatic cancer, by publication year.
Trials started
- 3232020
- 3792021
- 3572022
- 3802023
- 4142024
- 3942025
- 3992026partial (to date)
trials tagged pancreatic cancer, by start year.
NIH dollars counted
- $260M2020
- $270M2021
- $292M2022
- $307M2023
- $315M2024
- $326M2025
- $283M2026partial (to date)
NIH dollars counted on grants tagged pancreatic cancer, by fiscal year (multi-year awards spread over their years, double counting removed).
These counts cover records tagged pancreatic cancer in our public sources, as of 2026-11-10. 96% of papers have a PubMed ID and 56% list every author. The latest year is always incomplete: journals and registries keep adding records for months. What counts as pancreatic cancer here: Every pancreatic cancer record from the source searches, plus trials with a stated pancreatic cohort, plus papers the field lane adds outside the title search.
Open trials right now
1,059 trials tagged pancreatic cancer are recruiting patients now, and 328 more are about to start (not yet recruiting). Of these, 49 recruiting and 14 not-yet-recruiting trials are Phase 3 (final-stage), the last step before a drug can be approved.
Open trials tagged pancreatic cancer, by phase and recruiting status| Phase | Recruiting | Not yet recruiting |
|---|
| Early Phase 1 (very first, small tests) | 27 | 13 |
|---|
| Phase 1 (first tests in people) | 194 | 44 |
|---|
| Phase 1/2 (first tests, then does it work?) | 170 | 34 |
|---|
| Phase 2 (does it work?) | 163 | 72 |
|---|
| Phase 2/3 (does it work, then final-stage) | 19 | 5 |
|---|
| Phase 3 (final-stage) | 49 |
|---|