Research hotspots and trends in cancer rehabilitation: a bibliometric analysis (2013-2023)

Advances in medical care have made cancer rehabilitation an essential component of comprehensive cancer treatment. However, bibliometric analyses in this field remain limited. This study maps the global research landscape of cancer rehabilitation over the past decade.

Relevant publications on cancer rehabilitation from 2013 to 2023 were retrieved from the Web of Science Core Collection (WoSCC) database. Bibliometric analysis was conducted using VOSviewer, CiteSpace, and the R package "Bibliometrics."

A total of 6743 publications from 98 countries demonstrated sustained growth, peaking in 2022. The USA (1581 publications) and China (974) led in research output, while the Netherlands recorded the highest citation impact (32.75 citations per paper). Key institutions included the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center (148 publications) and Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (40.58 citations per paper). Supportive Care in Cancer ranked as the most influential journal. Research efforts primarily focused on exercise interventions (n = 404), quality of life (n = 688), and breast cancer rehabilitation (n = 440). Recent trends highlighted telemedicine, digital health, and breast cancer-related lymphedema.

This analysis highlights the dominance of high-income countries in cancer rehabilitation research and identifies exercise, quality of life, and breast cancer as enduring focal points. Emerging priorities include technology-driven interventions and lymphedema management. However, critical gaps remain, such as the underrepresentation of low-resource regions, limited focus on pediatric populations, and insufficient integration of advanced technologies (e.g., AI, wearables). Future efforts should emphasize equitable resource distribution, evidence-based pediatric rehabilitation models, and scalable technology-driven solutions to address global disparities and improve survivorship care.