Global research trends and focus on immunotherapy for endometrial cancer: a comprehensive bibliometric insight and visualization analysis (2012-2024)

Abstract

Background: This study conducted a novel systematic bibliometric and visualization analysis of global literature on immunotherapy for endometrial cancer (EC) to explore dynamic trends, research hotspots, and emerging topics, providing valuable references for future research.

Methods: Articles and reviews on EC immunotherapy published between 2012 and August 2024 were retrieved from the Web of Science Core Collection (WoSCC). Bibliometric tools, CiteSpace and VOSviewer, were used to analyze clustering patterns and research dynamics.

Results: A total of 861 articles were contributed by 5,331 authors from 1,392 institutions across 58 countries or regions, involving 1,823 keywords. China demonstrated outstanding performance in this field, contributing over 40% of the total publications and ranking first in publication volume. However, the total citation counts for publications from China lags that of the United States, highlighting the latter's leading position and areas for further improvement in China's research efforts. The University of Texas Medical Anderson Cancer Center and Nanjing Medical University were the two institutions with the highest number of publications. In terms of authorship, research teams led by Bosse, Tjalling, and Creutzberg, Carien L made significant contributions to advancing the field. Among individual publications, the work by Talhouk et al. achieved the highest average annual citation count of 70.88, demonstrating its profound impact. In terms of journals, Gynecologic Oncology emerged as a pivotal academic platform, publishing numerous articles and achieving the highest co-citation frequency. Additionally, Frontiers in Oncology, Frontiers in Immunology, and Frontiers in Genetics have become some of the most active and rapidly developing journals in recent years. Research hotspots are concentrated on themes such as the "Tumor Immune Microenvironment", "Immune Checkpoint Inhibitors", and "Targeted Therapy". Recent trends and frontier research focus on the combined application of immune checkpoint inhibitors with other therapies, research on the application of nanotechnology in immunotherapy, and the integration of artificial intelligence to enhance precision medicine. Additionally, efforts are increasingly directed toward advancing various immunotherapy strategies from basic research to clinical applications.

Conclusions: This comprehensive analysis reveals rapid advancements and significant potential in EC immunotherapy. Strengthening international collaboration and addressing barriers in the translation of research to clinical practice will drive further progress in this promising field.

Keywords: bibliometric analysis; emerging topics; endometrial cancer; immunotherapy; research hotspots.

Figure 1

Flowchart depicting the process of literature search and article screening for studies on immunotherapy for EC.

Figure 2

Annual publication trends and country/region contributions. (A) Annual publication counts and cumulative citation curves over the past 13 years. (B) Country collaboration network map generated by VOSviewer, each country is represented as a node, with links indicating co-authorship affiliations. The size of each node reflects the total number of publications, the more publications, the larger the nodes. The thicker the connections between nodes, the stronger the relationship between the two countries/regions. (C) Overlay visualization of country citation analysis created by VOSviewer. The size of the nodes reflects the number of citations—the more citations, the larger the node. The color of the nodes indicates the average citations per paper: the closer to yellow, the higher the average citations; the closer to blue, the lower the average citations. The thicker the connections between nodes, the stronger the relationship between the two countries/regions.

Figure 3

Institutional contributions and leading publication venues. (A) Institutional collaboration network map generated by VOSviewer, where node sizes correspond to publication quantities, the thicker the connections between nodes, the stronger the relationship between the two institutions. (B) Overlay visualization of journal citation analysis generated by VOSviewer, the color spectrum, ranging from purple to yellow, represents the temporal proximity of publications to either 2017 or 2022, the thicker the connections between nodes, the stronger the relationship between the two journals.

Figure 4

Authors, co-cited authors analysis. (A) Author collaboration network map generated by VOSviewer. (B) Overlay visualization of author collaborations created by VOSviewer.

Figure 5

Subject categories analysis. Co-occurrence network analysis of related subject categories created using CiteSpace.

Figure 6

Co-cited references, reference bursts, and highly cited publications. (A) Timeline view of reference co-citation analysis generated by CiteSpace. (B) Dual map overlay of journals created by CiteSpace, the left side presents the citing journals, while the right side represents the cited journals. Citation relationships are depicted with colored paths, where thicker lines indicate major citation pathways.

Figure 7

Co-citation network visualization and citation burst analysis. (A) Cited sources co-citation network visualization generated by VOSviewer. (B) Citation burst analysis identified by CiteSpace, the timeline is indicated by a blue line, and burst periods are represented using red bars. These bars denote the commencement year, conclusion year, and duration of the burst for each reference.

Figure 8

Keyword co-occurrence analysis and emergent keywords display. (A) Network visualization of keyword co-occurrence analysis generated by VOSviewer. Keywords with close associations are grouped into clusters, each denoted by a distinct color. (B) Overlay visualization of keyword co-occurrence analysis created by VOSviewer. Node color corresponds to the average appearing year (AAY) of each keyword. Purple or blue nodes indicate keywords that appeared relatively early in the field, while yellow-coded keywords highlight current research focuses. (C) Top 25 keywords with the strongest citation bursts identified by CiteSpace.