A bibliometric and visual analysis of cancer-associated fibroblasts

Abstract

BackgroundCancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs) represent the predominant stromal component within the tumour microenvironment (TME), exhibiting considerable heterogeneity and plasticity that significantly impact immune response and metabolic reprogramming within the TME, thereby influencing tumour progression. Consequently, investigating CAFs is of utmost importance. The objective of this study is to employ bibliometric analysis in order to evaluate the current state of research on CAFs and predict future areas of research and emerging trends.MethodsConduct a comprehensive search for scholarly publications within the Web of Science Core Collection database, encompassing the time period from January 1, 2001, to December 31, 2022. Apply VOSviewer, CiteSpace, R software and Microsoft Excel for bibliometric analysis and visualisation.ResultsThis study involved a comprehensive analysis of 5,925 publications authored by 33,628 individuals affiliated with 4,978 institutions across 79 countries/regions. These publications were published in 908 journals, covering 14,495 keywords and 203,947 references. Notably, there was a significant increase in articles published between 2019 and 2022. China had the highest count of articles, while the United States emerged as the most frequently cited country. The primary research institutions in this field were Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Harvard University, and the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center. Sotgia, Federica and Lisanti, Michael P from the University of Manchester, and Martinet, Wim from the University of Antwerp were the most prolific and highly cited authors. The journal Cancers had the highest number of publications, while Cancer Research was the most frequently cited journal. Molecular, biology, immunology, medicine and genetics were the main research disciplines in the field of CAFs. Key directions in CAFs research encompassed the study of transforming growth factor-β, Fibroblast Activation Protein, breast cancer, as well as growth and metastasis. The findings from the analysis of keyword co-occurrence and literature co-citation have revealed several emerging hotspots and trends within the field of CAFs. These include STAT3, multidrug resistance, pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma, pan-cancer analysis, preclinical evaluation, ionizing radiation, and gold nanoparticles.ConclusionTargeting CAFs is anticipated to be a novel and effective strategy for cancer treatment. This study provides a comprehensive overview of the existing research on CAFs from 2001 to 2022, utilizing bibliometric analysis. The study identified the prominent areas of investigation and anticipated future research directions, with the aim of providing valuable insights and recommendations for future studies in the field of CAFs.

Machine learning applied to epilepsy: bibliometric and visual analysis from 2004 to 2023

“…Co-citation author analysis refers to two authors whose literature is simultaneously cited by a third author. The higher the co-citation frequency, the closer the collaboration between authors and the stronger the authors' influence ( 24 ). By analyzing the number of published papers and authors with the highest co-citation frequency of studies related to the application of ML in epilepsy, we can visualize the authors' influence and research hotspots in the field.…”

“…To solve this issue, we used CiteSpace software to extract the citation frequency of all keywords, especially the top 13 keywords. The analysis of keyword bursts helps to gain insights into keyword popularity trends and their temporal distribution ( 24 ). The most cited keyword is “extreme learning machine.” It is worth noting that the keyword “schizophrenia” has had a higher concentration since 2021, and it is possible that schizophrenia has some correlation with epilepsy.…”