Innovative reflection on oral cancer research priorities: the contribution of social network analysis

Abstract

The objective of this study is to present a tool to help understand how variables associated with oral cancer prevention relate to each other in a social network. A search of the Scopus database was performed using terms related to oral cancer and prevention from 2000 to 2020. The keywords were used as nodes and were analyzed using NodeXL, which produced the network graphic analysis. From the 1004 publications available, 4038 different keywords were obtained and then grouped into 75 constructs based on conceptual similarity. The most influential nodes were risk factors, comorbidities, epidemiology, and treatment. However, topics such as technology, telemedicine, selfexamination, and diagnostic delay remain far removed from central relations. Network analysis enabled us to observe the bias of biological and basic science in the field and identify a need for studies concerning primary prevention, behavioral interventions, and inequalities in oral cancer.