ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Oncol.
Sec. Cancer Molecular Targets and Therapeutics
Volume 15 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fonc.2025.1591257
This article is part of the Research TopicRenewed Insight into Cancer Mechanism and TherapyView all 26 articles
Deciphering the Circadian Rhythm in Colorectal Cancer: A Bibliometric Analysis of Research Landscape and Trends
Provisionally accepted
- 1Department of Integrated Traditional Chinese and Western Medicine, Second Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, Hunan Province, China
- 2College of Integrated Traditional Chinese and Western Medicine, Hunan University of Chinese Medicine, Changsha, Hunan Province, China
- 3Department of Immunochemistry, Institute of Chemical Technology, Ural Federal University, Ekaterinburg, Russia
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Colorectal cancer (CRC) is a leading cause of global cancer mortality, increasingly linked to circadian rhythm disruption-a critical yet underexplored driver of tumorigenesis. This bibliometric analysis evaluates 374 publications from the Web of Science Core Collection (1999Collection ( -2024) ) using VOSviewer, CiteSpace, and Bibliometrix to map global research trends. Annual publications surged post-2016, peaking in 2021, reflecting intensified focus on circadian-CRC interactions. The United States led in output (122 publications, H-index 46), followed by France (76 publications) and China (49 publications), with the Netherlands achieving the highest citation impact (88.06 citations per publication). French institutions, notably Assistance Publique-Hôpitaux de Paris (APHP), dominated translational research, while foundational studies by Levi et al. on chronomodulated chemotherapy remained pivotal. Keyword analysis identified "circadian rhythm" and "colorectal cancer" as core themes, with "inflammation" and "inflammatory bowel disease" showing significant citation bursts post-2014. Co-citation networks bridged molecular chronobiology (Science, PNAS) and clinical oncology (Cancer Research), though mechanistic studies prioritized clock genes (e.g., BMAL1, PER2) over environmental disruptors. Clinically, aligning chemotherapy with circadian rhythms reduced severe toxicity by 40% in metastatic CRC, yet gaps persist in biomarker validation and monitoring tools. Epidemiologically, shift workers faced a 20-30% elevated CRC risk, correlating with PER2 silencing in 45% of tumors and NF-κB/STAT3 pathway activation. Future research should integrate AI-driven circadian profiling, global collaboration, and trials targeting circadianimmune-metabolic axes to advance precision chronotherapy. This study underscores circadian biology as a cornerstone of CRC management, advocating strategies that harmonize molecular insights with ecological relevance to improve outcomes.
Keywords: colorectal cancer, circadian rhythm disruption, Tumor Microenvironment, colorectal cancer intervention, Bibliometric
Received: 10 Mar 2025; Accepted: 09 May 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Chen, Liu, Tao and Xiao. 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: Ningkun Xiao, Department of Immunochemistry, Institute of Chemical Technology, Ural Federal University, Ekaterinburg, Russia
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