What the registry says about new cancer trials this quarter

Since 1 July 2026, ClinicalTrials.gov has recorded 3,332 studies in cancer with a start date in that window. Of those, 2,813 are interventional — trials that give participants a treatment — and 918 are currently listed as recruiting.

That gap is worth sitting with. Rather more studies are registered than are actively looking for participants at any one moment, because records are created before enrolment opens and stay in the registry long after it closes.

Where they sit by phase

• Phase 1: 645
• Phase 2: 1,139
• Phase 3: 259
• Phase 4: 59

Phase 2 is the largest group by a wide margin — roughly 4 times the number of Phase 3 studies. That shape is normal rather than surprising. Phase 2 is where most ideas are tested and most are set aside; only a fraction reach the much larger, much more expensive Phase 3 stage.

Phases do not add up to the total, because many records list no phase at all — observational studies, registries and some device work sit outside the phase system entirely.

Checking it yourself

Every number above comes from a public query you can run: the cancer search, filtered to start dates from July. The registry is free and the filters are on the left of the results page.

Counts taken from the ClinicalTrials.gov API on 7 October 2026, covering studies with a registered start date on or after 1 July 2026. Registry numbers move as records are added and updated, so treat them as a snapshot rather than a fixed figure.