China has quickly expanded its influence in cancer research, overtaking the United States to rank No. 1 in the world by the number of cancer research papers.
Korea also saw major improvements in the scale and quality of its research over the past 20 years, but with China showing a steeper growth curve, Korea ranked in the middle among 13 major countries.
The National Academy of Medicine of Korea and the Korean Cancer Association held the "2026 Korea cancer research performance analysis briefing" at the Korea Press Center in Jung-gu, Seoul, on the 10th and released findings comparing and analyzing Korea's cancer research performance from 2005 to 2024 with major countries.
The analysis found that as of 2024, China released the most cancer research papers. The United States and India followed. China and India steadily increased their paper counts around the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic even as growth slowed in other major countries.
Korea's cancer research output also grew. The number of cancer research papers rose 3.7 times (267%), from 2,160 in 2005 to 7,925 in 2024. Among the 13 countries analyzed, Korea's ranking climbed one notch from ninth to eighth.
The field-weighted citation impact (FWCI), which indicates research influence, rose from 1.00 to 1.65. The share of highly cited papers in the top 10% globally also increased from 7.4% to 13%.
International collaboration and academia-industry collaboration emerged as strengths of Korea's cancer research. The share of internationally coauthored papers rose from 18.4% in 2005 to 31.6% in 2024. The FWCI of international collaborative studies also increased from 1.69 to 3.32, ranking fourth among 13 countries in 2024.
The share of academia-industry collaborative papers increased from 6.0% to 20.6%, ranking first among 13 countries in 2024. The number of such papers also grew from 129 to 1,634.
◇ China strong in AI and big data; Korea strong in clinical and academia-industry collaboration
By research area, translational research was identified as the core pillar of Korea's cancer research. In 2024, there were about 3,000 papers related to translational research, the most among the seven research topics.
Areas with particularly rapid recent growth were artificial intelligence (AI) and big data. AI-related cancer research papers increased from 10 in 2005 to 456 in 2024, and big data research papers rose from 31 to 1,180.
Early-phase clinical trials were evaluated as Korea's distinctive strength. The FWCI in early clinical research was 3.84, far above the global average of 1.09. The share of highly cited papers in the global top 10% reached 35%, and the journal impact metric for related papers was 18.73.
By cancer type, gastric cancer and hepatocellular carcinoma were strong in the number of papers and global share of papers. Cholangiocarcinoma stood out in global share and international and academia-industry collaboration; lung cancer in the citation impact of international collaborative studies and academia-industry collaboration; and breast cancer in the number of papers and patent citations.
However, in global competition, China's pursuit stood out.
As China's share of papers rapidly expanded in growth areas such as AI, big data, and precision medicine, the relative shares of major countries including Korea, the United States, Japan, Germany, the United Kingdom, and France declined.
China's growth was also steep in early clinical research. In 2024, Korea relatively held its ground by maintaining its share even as other major countries reduced their research shares.
It was also assessed that not only the quantitative growth of China's cancer research but also its qualitative level is improving rapidly.
Ra Sun-young, a professor at Yonsei University College of Medicine, said, "In the past, some questioned the reliability of data from China, but now drugs developed in China are being used in actual medical oncology treatment," and added, "We were able to confirm with data that, alongside the immense numerical increase, the qualitative level is becoming very good."
Cancer research experts gathered that day emphasized that as Korea's cancer research has grown quantitatively and qualitatively over the past 20 years, capabilities now need to focus on linking research outcomes to clinical and industrial value and boosting global influence.
They said Korea should expand multinational clinical studies and participation in international consortia, and strengthen research outcomes that lead to actual clinical practice and technological innovation, such as clinical practice guidelines and patent citations.
Kim Tae-yong, a professor of internal medicine at Seoul National University Hospital, said, "The pursuit by latecomers is very formidable," and added, "Our country needs to secure preemptive research capabilities in promising fields such as AI."
Kim cited international collaboration and academia-industry collaboration as key factors to enhance the competitiveness of Korea's cancer research. "The higher the level of international collaboration, the greater the impact, so we hope to carry out international cooperation well and secure the research capacity that Korea can lead," Kim said. He added, "Since Korea is doing well in academia-industry collaboration, if academia, the medical community, and industry continue to work together, Korea can have a distinctive strength."