SYSTEMATIC REVIEW article
Front. Immunol.
Sec. Cancer Immunity and Immunotherapy
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fimmu.2025.1618742
Current perspectives and trends in colorectal cancer and cancer-associated fibroblasts: a review and bibliometric analysis
Provisionally accepted
- Lishui Second People's Hospital, Lishui, China
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Background: Cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs) are a key stromal component of the tumor microenvironment (TME), distinguished by significant heterogeneity and plasticity. Over the past two decades, a remarkable association between colorectal cancer (CRC) and CAFs has been established. Nevertheless, comprehensive data on the prevalence and potential research directions of CRC and CAFs are still lacking, which is needed to guide researchers.Methods: This study conducted a comprehensive literature search in the Web of Science Core Collection database from January 1, 2004 to March 27, 2025. Bibliometric analysis and visualization were performed using VOSviewer, CiteSpace, R software, and Microsoft Excel.Results: A total of 1145 articles were included in the analysis. These articles were disseminated across 359 journals and encompassed 4032 distinct keywords. From 2010 to 2024, there was a significant surge in the number of publications. China emerged as the primary contributor in terms of the number of articles, while the United States topped the list for citation counts globally. Renowned research institutions in this field include Sun Yat-sen University, Fudan University, and Shanghai Jiao Tong University. Notable researchers such as De Wever, Olivier and Bracke, Marc from Ghent University Hospital, and Pena, Cristina from Puerta de Hierro Majadahonda University Hospital are among the most productive and highly cited authors. CANCERS is the journal with the highest number of publications and citation frequency. The main research focuses in the field of CAFs and CRC include the effects of CAFs on CRC cell proliferation, angiogenesis, invasion, metastasis, immune suppression, drug resistance, as well as the interactions between CAFs and gut microbiota.Conclusion: Using bibliometric analysis, this study presents a panoramic view of the research landscape of CAFs and CRC from 2004 to March 27, 2025. It highlights prominent research areas and anticipates future directions with the aim of offering valuable insights and strategic recommendations for future endeavors in this field.
Keywords: cancer-associated fibroblasts, colorectal cancer, Bibliometrics, Tumor Microenvironment, Trends
Received: 26 Apr 2025; Accepted: 12 Jun 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Qian, Ren, Zhu, Chen, Shen, Hu and Chen. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Xiangcheng Hu, Lishui Second People's Hospital, Lishui, China
Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.