Research trends and visualization analysis of autoimmune disease-related liver cancer from 2004 to 2024: a bibliometric study

Abstract

Background: Despite the rapid increase in scientific research output related to autoimmune disease-associated liver cancer (ADRLC) in recent years, there is currently a lack of a comprehensive and objective grasp of the cutting-edge progress and future research directions in this research field.

Methods: A comprehensive bibliometric analysis of ADRLC literature was conducted using Biblioshiny, VOSviewer, Scimago Graphica, CiteSpace, and Microsoft Office Excel (Version 2022). Data were extracted from the Web of Science Core Collection (2004-2024).

Results: A total of 1,672 ADRLC papers published from 2004 to 2024 were included. The number of global publications increased steadily, peaking in 2023. The United States had the most publications and citations, followed closely by China and Japan. The WORLD JOURNAL OF GASTROENTEROLOGY published the most articles. High-frequency keywords included "hepatocellular carcinom", "cancer", and "disease" six major research clusters were identified, with "natural history" having the strongest burst impact from 2004 to 2024. Recent trends included "immunotherapy" and "cancer" (2021-2024). Cutting-edge research directions were "immunotherapy" and "immune checkpoint inhibitors".

Conclusion: This study reveals the research directions and trends of ADRLC. The research on ADRLC is increasing globally, with significant contributions from China and the United States. Strengthening research on pathogenesis, early prevention, and individualized treatment of ADRLC is needed. Immunotherapy shows great potential in treating ADRLC and has become a current research hotspot.

Keywords: Autoimmune diseases; Bibliometrics; Immune checkpoint inhibitors; Immunotherapy; Liver cancer.

Fig. 1

Diagram of the pathogenic mechanism of liver cancer

Fig. 2

Flowchart of the study

Fig. 3

Trends in the annual output of publications and average citation quantity of ADRLC. A Annual publication output related to the ADRLC topic; B Line graph of annual citation counts

Fig. 4

Country/region analysis. A Collaboration network of countries/regions involved in the research; B Count of publications from each country; C The yearly publication patterns of countries/ regions; D The ranking of countries with the highest citation counts; E Global map of international collaborations; F Distribution of co-authors by country

Fig. 5

Institutional analysis. A Co-authorship map of institutions participating in the research; B Core institutions ranked by the number of publications; C Publication trend of institutions in the past two decades; D Institution citation association graph

Fig. 6

Author and co-author analysis. A Co-authorship network diagram; B Author introduction volume correlation diagram from 2014 to 2020; C Author output timeline diagram; D Top 10 authors with the most published literature in the ADRLC field; E Comparison table of author citation counts; F Author local influence

Fig. 7

Distribution of journals. A Distribution of the number of core journal articles; B Annual distribution of journal articles from 2004 to 2024; C Comparative analysis table of journal H-indexes; D Graph of the interrelationships among journals; E Top ten journals ranked by citation count; F The top twelve journals with the fastest citation growth from 2015 to 2024

Fig. 8

Co-citation analysis of documents and references. A The top 10 most frequently locally cited documents; B The top 10 most frequently locally referenced documents; C The author-document association matrix of cited references; D The top 15 references with the highest citation burst intensity

Fig. 9

Keyword analysis and research trends. A The most frequently occurring keywords; B The frequency trend of keywords over time; C The cluster analysis diagram of keywords; D The top 15 keywords with the strongest citation burst force

Fig. 10

Thematic evolution and trend analysis. A The phased evolution process of ADRLC research topics; B The first appearance time and duration of different keywords