Which cancer research programs or grants were canceled, delayed, or defunded under Trump?

1. What reporters and oversight panels documented: freezes, cancellations and big-dollar totals

A Senate HELP Committee minority analysis and multiple outlets reported the administration halted or terminated thousands of NIH awards and cut billions from NIH budgets — figures cited include $2.7 billion in NIH research funding cut through March and assertions that nearly $700 million of terminated NIH funding covered areas including cancer ^{[2] [1]}. The New York Times and other investigations say the administration canceled “hundreds of millions” in cancer-related grants and suspended or delayed payments for hundreds of millions more ^{[3] [8]}.

2. Specific program-level disruptions cited by coverage

Coverage highlights several concrete disruptions: the suspension or non‑renewal of NCI Cancer Center Support grants at multiple NCI‑designated centers (senior congressional and center statements point to halted renewal awards totaling tens of millions) and the stopping of roughly $47 million in funding to nine NCI cancer centers identified by Senator Tammy Baldwin’s office ^{[5] [9]}. PBS and other outlets reported the administration announced it would stop supporting a federally funded pediatric brain‑cancer research network ^[10].

3. Which grant types and topics were reportedly targeted

Multiple outlets and affected researchers reported that the administration specifically suspended or cancelled grants that contained language or aims tied to diversity, equity and inclusion or gender studies — including NIH projects on sexual and gender minority cancer care — after executive orders restricting “gender”‑related research language ^{[7] [6] [4]}. Reporting also indicates pediatric cancer grants, clinical trials and disparity‑focused studies were among those suspended or delayed ^{[6] [10]}.

4. Administrative policy changes that underpinned cuts and delays

Journalists note policy moves that had systemwide effects: a cap proposed on indirect cost reimbursements for NIH grants (15% cap reported) and an initial federal grant freeze and pause of grant‑review meetings that delayed or cancelled review panels, impeding new and renewal awards ^{[11] [12] [4]}. The administration also proposed deep budget cuts to the NCI in its proposed budgets, including a cited more‑than‑37% cut to NCI funding in a later proposal ^{[13] [14]}.

5. Diverging perspectives and legal pushback

Advocacy groups, Democratic lawmakers and scientific societies described the actions as a “war on science” that would jeopardize lifesaving research; they pointed to specific dollar totals and terminated awards as evidence ^{[2] [15]}. The administration framed changes as reorienting priorities and controlling taxpayer funds; some legal challenges temporarily blocked aspects of a funding freeze, but reporting says agencies in practice still delayed payments in many cases ^{[16] [11] [9]}.

6. Limits of available reporting and what remains unclear

Available sources do not provide a single, government‑verified list of every named cancer grant cancelled or the complete roll‑forward accounting of every dollar; instead, the record is compiled from Senate staff analyses, news investigations and institutional statements that vary in scope and methodology ^{[2] [3]}. Precise attribution of every terminated award to “cancer research” versus other biomedical fields is not fully enumerated in the cited reporting ^{[2] [1]}.

7. What researchers and centers have reported seeing on the ground

University and cancer‑center reporting—plus interviews in investigative pieces—describe halted clinical‑trial activity, delayed noncompeting renewals (routine renewals rewritten or held up), layoffs and researchers told to stop active studies when their work was viewed as out of the administration’s priorities ^{[17] [3] [7]}. Local tallies provided by institutions cite state‑level losses (for example Missouri/Kansas >$38 million reported) but sources caution that totals are evolving ^[17].

Bottom line: documented categories, not a single black‑and‑white list

Reporting consistently documents categories of action — paused grant reviews, cancelled or terminated NIH awards, withheld renewals and budget proposals for deep NCI cuts — and cites large aggregate dollar impacts and examples ^{[2] [3] [1]}. Available sources do not present a single definitive roster of every individual cancer grant cancelled; they instead offer aggregated tallies, named center examples (e.g., $47 million across nine centers), and multiple investigative accounts of program‑level and topic‑specific disruptions ^{[5] [2] [3]}.