A bibliometric analysis of testicular germ cell tumor research from 2000 to 2020

Thousands of papers on testicular germ cell tumor (TGCT) have been published over the past two decades. This study aimed to assess the key topics and future trends in TGCT research from a comprehensive perspective.

All literature defined as review and article type on TGCT published between 2000 and 2020 was identified and retrieved from the Web of Science Core Collection (WoSCC) database. Bibliometric analysis was conducted by the online analysis platform and VOSviewer (version 1.6.16). The key directions and future trends in the research field of TGCT were evaluated using Bibliographic Item Co-occurrence Matrix Builder (version 2.0) and gCLUTO software.

Ultimately, a total of 4,550 papers between 2000 and 2020 were included in the field of TGCT. The leadership of the United States in global TGCT research with 1,549 publications during the last two decades was obvious. The Indiana University was the most productive institution with 360 publications, and it was also the institution most frequently involved in research cooperation. Journal of Urology published the highest number of publications on TGCT. Looijenga LHJ, Bokemeyer C, Ulbright TM, Sheinfeld J and Dieckmann KP were the top productive contributors to TGCT research. Further, five research hotspots have been identified: (I) epidemiology of TGCT; (II) TGCT-related infertility; (III) pathological classification with TGCT; (IV) management options for TGCT; and (V) Prevention of cancer metastasis in TGCT patients.

During the last two decades, the United States was a global leader, and research hotspots included epidemiology, male infertility, pathology, and therapy in the field of TGCT. Furthermore, the genetics mechanisms and cisplatin resistance will remain hotspots in future TGCT research.