Congress is expected to vote on a spending package March 22, 2024, that will fund the federal government, including the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and National Cancer Institute (NCI), through September 30— the end of the 2024 Fiscal Year.

The legislative package provides some increases for several centers and institutes within the NIH. Overall, the bill designates $47.1 billion in funding for all NIH programs, which is about $378 million less than FY23 levels. For NCI, FY24 is the first year of post Cancer Moonshot-appropriated funding. Therefore, the bill sets the new NCI base funding level slightly higher than FY23 at $7.2 billion, in an effort to provide some additional funding to the agency’s base to continue Moonshot efforts. Unfortunately, this does not fully cover the Moonshot’s funding gap for NCI to implement the National Cancer Plan and realize the initiative’s ultimate goal of 50% reduction in cancer mortality by 2047. The bill continues support for the Advanced Research Projects Agency on Health (ARPA-H) by maintaining funding at $1.5 billion.

A statement from Everett E. Vokes, MD, FASCO, Chair of the Board, Association for Clinical Oncology follows:

“In this difficult budget environment, we appreciate that Congress is considering the increased funding needs for NCI to implement the National Cancer Plan – the roadmap for all of cancer research and care. Unfortunately, due to the expiration of designated Cancer Moonshot funding, NCI programs will ultimately have to grapple with cuts to their total funding levels.
 
“In the past, Congress has made a strong investment in cancer research and the results have been remarkable. There are now a record 18 million American cancer survivors alive today and cancer mortality rates have declined by 33% since 1991. But past success does not guarantee future progress. 
 
“Because of overall lower levels of funding, programs across NCI, including research grants, programs, infrastructure, and workforce development, will be negatively affected and as a result, could hinder progress in cancer research. This may also discourage young researchers from going into or continuing their careers in biomedical research, which jeopardizes decades of possible breakthroughs and weakens the United States’ status as a leader in medical research and innovation. 

“As we now turn to FY25, we urge lawmakers to work on bipartisan funding legislation that reflects their dedication to cancer prevention, early detection, treatment, and survivorship.”