Scientometrics
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2024. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Gastrointest Oncol. Jul 15, 2024; 16(7): 3321-3330
Published online Jul 15, 2024. doi: 10.4251/wjgo.v16.i7.3321
Research trends and hotspots in the immune microenvironment related to hepatocellular carcinoma: A bibliometric and visualization study
Da-Ya Zhang, Fei-Hu Bai
Da-Ya Zhang, Department of Graduate School, Hainan Medical University, Haikou 571199, Hainan Province, China
Fei-Hu Bai, Department of Gastroenterology, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Hainan Medical University, Haikou 570216, Hainan Province, China
Fei-Hu Bai, Department of Gastroenterology, The Gastroenterology Clinical Medical Center of Hainan Province, Haikou 570216, Hainan Province, China
Author contributions: Zhang DY and Bai FH designed the research study, performed the research, contributed new reagents and analytic tools, analyzed the data and wrote the manuscript; all authors have read and approve the final manuscript.
Supported by The Specific Research Fund of The Innovation Platform for Academicians of Hainan Province, No. YSPTZX202313; The Hainan Province Clinical Medical Center, No. 2021818; The Hainan Provincial Health Industry Research Project, No. 22A200078; The Hainan Provincial Postgraduate Innovation Research Project, No. Qhyb2022-133; and The National Clinical Key Specialty Capacity Building Project, No. 202330.
Conflict-of-interest statement: All authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.
PRISMA 2009 Checklist statement: The authors have read the PRISMA 2009 Checklist statement, and the manuscript was prepared and revised according to the PRISMA 2009 Checklist statement.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Fei-Hu Bai, PhD, Chief Doctor, Professor, Department of Gastroenterology, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Hainan Medical University, No. 368 Yehai Avenue, Longhua District, Haikou 570216, Hainan Province, China. baifeihu_hy@163.com
Received: January 19, 2024
Revised: April 16, 2024
Accepted: April 28, 2024
Published online: July 15, 2024
Processing time: 175 Days and 13 Hours
Abstract
BACKGROUND

The immune microenvironment (IME) in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) plays a pivotal role in determining patient outcomes and responses to treatment. This area is witnessing rapid growth in research interest. However, there is a lack of comprehensive bibliometric analyses that dissect trends and potential focal points in this field.

AIM

To explore the evolution of research on the IME in HCC from January 1, 2004, to December 31, 2023, using bibliometric methodologies.

METHODS

English articles and reviews concerning the IME of HCC were retrieved from the Web of Science Core Collection with a search date of December 31, 2023. The R package Bibliometrix was employed to compute basic bibliometric characteristics, illustrate collaborations among countries and authors, and create a three-field diagram illustrating the connections between authors, affiliations, and keywords. Analyses of country and institutional co-authorship, as well as keyword co-occurrence, were conducted using VOSviewer. Additionally, CiteSpace was utilized for the cite burst analysis of keywords and cited literature.

RESULTS

The study encompassed 3125 documents in the research areas related to HCC of IME, revealing a substantial and continuous increase in the annual publication trend over time. China and Fudan University emerged as leading contributors, with 2103 and 165 publications, respectively. Frontiers in immunology was the most prolific journal in this domain. Among the top ten researchers in the field, eight are based in China. Key research terms identified include tumour microenvironment, expression, immunotherapy, and prognosis.

CONCLUSION

The relationship between HCC and IME is receiving increasing attention, and related research is in a highly developed stage. Key focus areas, including IME and immune checkpoint inhibitors, immunotherapy are poised to be central to future research endeavors, offering promising pathways for further exploration.

Keywords: Immune microenvironment, Hepatocellular carcinoma, Bibliometrics, VOSviewer, Citespace, Frontiers

Core Tip: The current major research thrust in the field is to explore immune microenvironment (IME)-based immunotherapy related to hepatocellular carcinoma. Our researchers have taken an in-depth look at tumor IME and concluded that immune checkpoint-based immunotherapy, precision immunotherapy and immune cellular modalities are the frontiers and priorities for the coming years, which may provide valuable opportunities for further research.