Global hotspots and research trends of radiation-induced skin injury: a bibliometric analysis from 2004 to 2023

Abstract

Background: Radiation therapy has become an important treatment for many malignant tumours after surgery and for palliative tumour care. Although modern radiotherapy technology is constantly improving, radiation damage to normal tissues is often difficult to avoid, and radiation-induced skin injury (RSI) is a common complication, manifested as skin erythema, peeling, ulceration, and even bone and deep organ damage, seriously affect the quality of life for patients. Basic research and clinical trials related to RSI have achieved certain results, while no researchers have conducted comprehensive bibliometric studies.

Objective: A comprehensive bibliometric analysis of publications on RSI published between 2004 and 2023 was conducted to identify current hotspots and future directions in this area of study.

Methods: RSI-related publications published between January 1, 2004, and December 31, 2023, were retrieved from the Web of Science Core Collection (WoSCC) database for analysis using VOSviewer and CiteSpace analytics.

Results: A total of 1009 publications on RSI from 2004 to 2023 were included in the WoSCC database. The United States had the highest productivity with 299 papers, accounting for 29.63% of the total production, followed by China with 193 papers (19.13%) and Japan with 111 papers (11.00%). In terms of research institutions and journals, the University of Toronto and Journal of Supportive Care in Cancer published the highest number of papers. Professor Edward Chow published the most articles, while Professor Shuyu Zhang was the most cited. The top ten most-cited papers focused on the pathogenesis, prevention, and management of RSI. Keyword co-occurrence analysis and the top 25 keywords with the strongest citation bursts suggest that current research focuses on the pathogenesis, prevention, and treatment management of RSI.

Conclusion: This study conducted a systematic bibliometric analysis of RSI publications from 2004 to 2023; identified the trends in RSI publications, major research countries, major research institutions, major research journals, major research authors, and major research keywords; and revealed the future development direction and research hotspots of this field. This study provides a valuable reference for future RSI research.

Keywords: Citespace; VOSviewer; bibliometric analysis; radiation-induced skin injury; radiotherapy.

Figure 1

Schematic diagram of radiation-induced skin injury.

Figure 2

Research screening flow chart.

Figure 3

(A) The number of publications by country during the past 20 years. (B) The Number of annual publications and citations from 2004 to 2023.

Figure 4

Visualization of the global distribution of RSI publications.

Figure 5

(A) Network of RSI research international cooperation. (B) Visualisation network of RSI research institution collaboration.

Figure 6

(A) Co-citation network visualisation of journals. (B) Co-citation network visualisation of authors. (C)Country, author and keywords Sankey diagram.

Figure 7

(A) Co-citation network visualization of references. (B) Top 25 references with the strongest citation bursts. (C) Co-citation references topic analysis.

Figure 8

(A) Volcano map of co-cited references. (B) Cluster map of co-cited references.

Figure 9

(A) Co-occurrence network visualization of keywords. (B) Top 25 keywords with the strongest citation bursts.

Figure 10

(A) Volcano map of keywords. (B) Cluster map of keywords.

Figure 11

(A) Co-occurrence network visualization of keywords in the United States. (B) Co-occurrence network visualization of keywords in China. (C) Co-occurrence network visualization of keywords in Japan.