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Incorporating research objectives into national cancer control plans informs effective implementation, and ultimately, health outcomes. We sought to explore the inclusion and description of research priorities in select low- and middle-income countries’ (LMIC) cancer control plans to elucidate gaps and collaborative opportunities. LMIC plans published in English, in 2016 or later, and met World Bank and Human Development Index criteria, comprised the eligible sample. A systematic, inductive approach was used to characterize the research priorities. Two overarching categories of research priorities were identified: Establishing Research Agendas (ERA) and Building Research Capacity (BRC). Codes were subsequently assigned to distinguish between types of research and strategies for developing research capacity. Twelve LMIC cancer control plans were included in the analysis. Six of the 12 plans articulated ERA priorities involving five types of research; the most frequently planned being Health Services Research (31%), followed by Epidemiologic (27%) and Clinical (27%). Five strategies were proposed to build research capacity; the most frequently proposed were “Enhance Cancer Surveillance” (44%) and “Establish Research Infrastructure” (24%). Country-specific variation in ERA and BRC priorities were observed across research type and cancer continuum phase. This is the first systematic examination of research priorities in a subset of LMIC national cancer control plans. Findings suggest that some LMICs intend to focus their research efforts in specific areas and others plan to integrate research across the continuum to enhance cancer control efforts. The extent and overlap of research priorities between countries demonstrates promise for trans-national research collaborations.