Research Trends and Emerging Hotspots of Lung Cancer Surgery during 2012-2021: A 10-Year Bibliometric and Network Analysis

Abstract

Background . Lung cancer remains the leading cause of death because of cancer globally in the past years. To inspire researchers with new targets and path-breaking directions for lung cancer research, this study is aimed at exploring the research trends and emerging hotspots in the lung cancer surgery literature in the recent decade. Methods . This cross-sectional study combined bibliometric and network analysis techniques to undertake a quantitative analysis of lung cancer surgery literature. Dimensions database was searched using keywords in a 10-year period (2012-2021). Publications were characterized by publication year, research countries, field citation ratio, cooperation status, research area, and emerging hotspots. Results . Overall, global scholarly outputs of lung cancer surgery had almost doubled during the recent decade, with China, Japan, and the United States leading the way, while Denmark and Belgium predominated in terms of scientific influence. Network analysis showed that international cooperation accounted for a relatively small portion in lung cancer surgery research, and the United States, China, and Europe were the prominent centers of international cooperation network. In the recent decade, research of lung cancer surgery majored in prevention, biomedical imaging, rehabilitation, and genetics, and the emerging research hotspots transformed into immunotherapy. Research on immunotherapy showed a considerable increase in scientific influence in the latest year. Conclusions . The study findings are expected to provide researchers and policymakers with interesting insights into the changing trends of lung cancer surgery research and further generate evidence to support decision-making in improving prognosis for patients with lung cancer.