ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Oncol.
Sec. Gastrointestinal Cancers: Gastric and Esophageal Cancers
Volume 15 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fonc.2025.1565132
Bibliometric Analysis of Immunotherapy for Esophageal Cancer: 2004-2024
Provisionally accepted
- 1Baotou Cancer Hospital, Baotou, China
- 2Baotou Medical College, Baotou, China
- 3Center for National Cancer, Cancer Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, Beijing Municipality, China
- 4First Affiliated Hospital of Baotou Medical College, Inner Mongolia University of Science and Technology, Baotou, Inner Mongolia, China
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In recent years, immunotherapy, as an emerging treatment strategy, has shown increasing potential in the treatment of esophageal cancer.This study employs visualization tools such as CiteSpace and VOSviewer to conduct a bibliometric analysis of research in esophageal cancer immunotherapy. Through quantitative analysis of literature data, it objectively and systematically delineates the comprehensive research landscape, evolutionary trajectory, and knowledge architecture of the field. This methodology identifies pivotal contributors and seminal publications, reveals the evolution of research hotspots and emerging trends, and evaluates international collaborative networks. The investigation aims to explore research priorities, developmental pathways, and global cooperation patterns, thereby providing scientifically robust data support and strategic guidance for future research directions-thus enabling researchers to rapidly comprehend domain dynamics.We analyzed 780 English publications from 2004 to 2024 indexed in the Web of Science (WOS), with the number of publications increasing year by year. The country with the most publications is China, while Zhengzhou University is the institution with the highest number of articles. Frontiers in Oncology and Journal of Clinical Oncology are the journals with the most publications and the highest co-citation counts, respectively. Kato Ken and Kojima Takashi are the scholars with the highest number of related articles. Our analysis reveals that the focus of esophageal cancer treatment has shifted from traditional radiotherapy and chemotherapy to areas related to immunotherapy, such as the "tumor immune microenvironment," "immune checkpoint inhibitors," "PD-L1(Programmed Death-Ligand 1) expression," and "microsatellite instability." The combination of immunotherapy with other treatment strategies, such as radiotherapy, chemotherapy, and targeted therapy, is currently the research emphasis. Multimodal combination therapy, leveraging the advantages of different treatment approaches to enhance efficacy, reduce side effects, and prolong survival, is the future trend
Keywords: Esophageal Cancer, Immunotherapy, Bibliometrics, Visualization, PD-1 EC: Esophageal Cancer, ESCC: esophageal squamous cell carcinoma, EAC: Esophageal Adenocarcinoma, TIME: Tumor Immune Microenvironment, ICIs: Immune Checkpoint Inhibitors, PD-1: Programmed Cell Death Protein 1, PD-L1: Programmed death-ligand 1, CTLA-4: Cytotoxic T-Lymphocyte Associated Protein 4
Received: 22 Jan 2025; Accepted: 18 Aug 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Hua, LIU, Liu, Tian, Zhang, You and Yin. 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:
Jiacong You, Center for National Cancer, Cancer Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, 100021, Beijing Municipality, China
Fangrui Yin, First Affiliated Hospital of Baotou Medical College, Inner Mongolia University of Science and Technology, Baotou, Inner Mongolia, China
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