AUTHOR=Li Xia , Zhou Liping , Xu Xinyi , Liu Xiyang , Wu Wenjun , Feng Quansheng , Tang Ziwei 

TITLE=Metabolic reprogramming in hepatocellular carcinoma: a bibliometric and visualized study from 2011 to 2023

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Pharmacology

VOLUME=Volume 15 - 2024

YEAR=2024

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/pharmacology/articles/10.3389/fphar.2024.1392241

DOI=10.3389/fphar.2024.1392241

ISSN=1663-9812

ABSTRACT=Background and aims: Metabolic reprogramming has been found to be a typical feature of tumors. Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), a cancer with high morbidity and mortality, has been extensively studied for its metabolic reprogramming-related mechanisms. Our study aims to identify the hotspots and frontiers of metabolic reprogramming research in HCC and to provide guidance for future scientific research and decision-making in HCC metabolism.Methods: Relevant studies on the metabolic reprogramming of HCC were derived from the Web of Science Core Collection (WoSCC) database up until November 2023. The bibliometrix tools in R were used for scientometric analysis and visualization.Results: From 2011 to 2023, a total of 575 publications were obtained from WoSCC that met the established criteria. These publications involved 3904 researchers and 948 organizations in 37 countries, with an average annual growth rate of 39.11% in research. These studies were published in 233 journals, with Cancers (n = 29) ranking first, followed by Frontiers in Oncology (n = 20) and International Journal of Molecular Sciences (n = 19). The top ten journals accounted for 26 % of the 575 studies. The most prolific authors were Wang J (n = 14), Li Y (n = 12), and Liu J (n = 12). The country with the most publications is China, followed by the United States, Italy, and France. Fudan University had the largest percentage of research results with 15.48% (n = 89). A total of 1204 keywords were analyzed, with the trend themes such as "glycolysis", "tumor microenvironment", "Warburg effect" "mitochondria", "hypoxia ", etc. Co-occurrence network and cluster analysis revealed the relationships between keywords, authors, publications, and journals. Moreover, the close collaboration between countries in this field was elucidated. Conclusion: This study elucidated characteristics of research in this field, which has gradually moved away from single glycolipid metabolism studies to the integration of overall metabolism in the body, pointed out the trend of research topics. The dynamics of the interaction between the tumor microenvironment and metabolic reprogramming will be the future direction of research, which provides blueprints and inspirations for HCC prevention and treatment programs to the researchers in this field.