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. 2025 May 23:15:1576696.
doi: 10.3389/fonc.2025.1576696. eCollection 2025.

Hotspots and frontiers of the relationship between gastric cancer and cancer-associated fibroblasts: a bibliometric analysis

Xiangcheng Hu  1 , Lingling Ren  1 , Shuyuan Zhu  1 , Haiping Shen  1 , Chengyong Qian  1 , Guanglan Chen  1 , Fangling Chen  1
Affiliations

Hotspots and frontiers of the relationship between gastric cancer and cancer-associated fibroblasts: a bibliometric analysis

Xiangcheng Hu et al. Front Oncol. .

Abstract

Background: Cancer-Associated Fibroblasts (CAFs) are pivotal stromal constituents within the Tumor Microenvironment (TME), characterized by marked heterogeneity and plasticity. Over the past two decades, a notable association between Gastric Cancer (GC) and CAFs has been established. Despite this, there remains a paucity of comprehensive data to guide researchers in understanding the prevalence and potential research trajectories concerning GC and CAFs.

Methods: This study conducted an extensive literature search within the Web of Science Core Collection database from January 1, 2003, to December 31, 2023. Bibliometric analysis and visualization were performed using VOSviewer, CiteSpace, R software, and Microsoft Excel.

Results: A total of 1170 articles were included. These articles were disseminated across 200 journals and incorporated 1800 distinct keywords. A notable surge in publications has been observed from 2011 to 2023. China emerged as the leading contributor to both article count and citations. Prominent research institutions in this domain include Osaka City University, Shanghai Jiaotong University, and National Cancer Research Center Hospital. Notable researchers, such as Masakazu Yashiro and Kosei Hirakawa from Osaka City University and Zhenggang Zhu from Shanghai Jiaotong University, were among the most productive and highly cited authors. FRONTIERS IN ONCOLOGY boasts the highest number of publications, whereas ONCOGENE ranks as the most cited journal. The primary research foci within the realm of CAFs and GC encompass the impact of CAFs on GC cell proliferation, angiogenesis, invasion, metastasis, epithelial-mesenchymal transition, immunosuppression, drug resistance, and the interplay between CAFs and GC.

Conclusion: Using bibliometric analysis, this study presents a panoramic view of the research landscape of CAFs and GC from 2003 to 2023. It highlights prominent research areas and anticipates future directions with the aim of offering valuable insights and strategic recommendations for future endeavors in this field.

Keywords: bibliometrics; cancer-associated fibroblasts; gastric cancer; hot spot; tumor microenvironment.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as potential conflicts of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Flowchart of the search strategy and exclusion criteria.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Trend graph depicting the annual growth in publications on cancer-associated fibroblasts and gastric cancer.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Nightingale’s Rose chart of the top 30 countries by publications.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Network of cooperation between countries.
Figure 5
Figure 5
A network visualization map of institutions in the field of cancer-associated fibroblasts and gastric cancer.
Figure 6
Figure 6
Scientific productivity of authors based on Lotka’ slaw.
Figure 7
Figure 7
Network diagram of author collaborations for cancer-associated fibroblasts and gastric cancer studies.
Figure 8
Figure 8
Scientific productivity of journals based on Bradford’s law.
Figure 9
Figure 9
Distribution map of journal publications in zone one.
Figure 10
Figure 10
The network diagram of cited journals.
Figure 11
Figure 11
The distribution of keyword occurrence times.
Figure 12
Figure 12
Network map of keywords for cancer-associated fibroblasts and gastric cancer studies.
Figure 13
Figure 13
The top 15 keywords with the strongest citation bursts.
Figure 14
Figure 14
Mechanistic diagram of the different roles of cancer-associated fibroblasts in gastric cancer.
Figure 15
Figure 15
The mechanism of crosstalk interactions between cancer-associated fibroblasts and tumor cells.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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