Scientometrics
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2023. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Methodol. Sep 20, 2023; 13(4): 345-358
Published online Sep 20, 2023. doi: 10.5662/wjm.v13.i4.345
Mapping research trends of transarterial chemoembolization for hepatocellular carcinoma from 2012 to 2021: A bibliometric analysis
Na Zhang, Xiao-Feng He, Xiang-Ke Niu
Na Zhang, Department of General Practice, Affiliated Hospital of Chengdu University, Chengdu 610081, Sichuan Province, China
Xiao-Feng He, Department of Interventional Radiology, Nanfang Hospital, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou 510515, Guangdong Province, China
Xiang-Ke Niu, Department of Interventional Radiology, Affiliated Hospital of Chengdu University, Chengdu 610081, Sichuan Province, China
Xiang-Ke Niu, Department of Interventional Radiology, Sichuan Cancer Hospital & Research Institute, School of Medicine, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu 610041, Sichuan Province, China
Author contributions: Zhang N and He XF contributed equally to this work; Niu XK designed the research study; Zhang N performed the research; He XF contributed analytic tools; Zhang N and Niu XK analyzed the data and wrote the manuscript; all authors have read and approve the final manuscript.
Supported by The Medical Association Project of Sichuan Province, No. 2021HR04 and No. Q20050; Innovation Team Foundation of Affiliated Hospital of Chengdu University, No. CDFYCX202204.
Conflict-of-interest statement: There is no conflict of interest associated with any of the senior author or other coauthors contributed their efforts in this manuscript.
PRISMA 2009 Checklist statement: The authors have read the PRISMA 2009 Checklist, and the manuscript was prepared and revised according to the PRISMA 2009 Checklist.
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: Xiang-Ke Niu, MD, PhD, Chief Physician, Professor, Department of Interventional Radiology, Affiliated Hospital of Chengdu University, No. 82 North Second Section of Second Ring Road, Chengdu 610081, Sichuan Province, China. niu19850519@163.com
Received: June 8, 2023
Peer-review started: June 8, 2023
First decision: July 10, 2023
Revised: July 20, 2023
Accepted: August 21, 2023
Article in press: August 21, 2023
Published online: September 20, 2023
Processing time: 103 Days and 18.2 Hours
ARTICLE HIGHLIGHTS
Research background

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the fifth most common cancer worldwide and the second leading cause of cancer-related deaths. Transcatheter arterial chemoembolization (TACE) is a therapy where drugs aimed to slow or halt tumor development are injected into the artery supplying for HCC tissues. A comprehensive analysis of all the articles on TACE for HCC can give us a general understanding of the progress in this field and provide guidance for future research.

Research motivation

The bibliometric analysis can be an important tool to help quantify and evaluate productivity within a scientifc feld, while also providing a comprehensive overview of the literature for students, trainees and experts in addition to identifying potential future research directions.

Research objectives

The aim of this study was to systematically analyze studies on TACE for HCC to determine its current status and assess future trends.

Research methods

The “Web of Science” database was used to identify articles regarding TACE for the treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) from 2012 to 2021. VOSviewer and CiteSpace were used to analyze the publications trends, collaboration between countries/institutions/authors, and the co-occurrence of keywords, keyword bursts, and references.

Research results

A total of 5728 original articles on TACE for HCC were retrieved. Regarding the volume of publications, the total number of yearly publications showed a generally increasing trend. China had the highest number of articles, while the United States achieved the highest Hirsch index and highest number of citations. The Sun Yat-sen University in China was most prolific institution. The most active author was Park JW from South Korea. The Journal of Vascular and Interventional Radiology (234 articles) was the most productive journal. There is a growing trend toward international collaboration in TACE for HCC. Cluster networks of co-cited references suggested that practice guidelines and targeted therapies are an essential theme in this field. In addition, cluster analysis based on keyword co-occurrence identified the research topic "prediction of TACE treatment" as a hotspot, and propensity score matching can be used to help investigators conduct innovative studies in the future.

Research conclusions

We found that current research in this field focuses on survival prediction and TACE-based combined therapies. These results can also help researchers in the field find relevant literature and stay informed about hot topics.

Research perspectives

High-quality international multicenter studies are needed to confirm how TACE-based combination therapies better improve patient survival.