Research Landscape on Adrenocortical Carcinoma Over Four Decades

Adrenocortical carcinoma is a rare but devastating endocrine malignancy. Our objective was to outline the academic output and trends through bibliometric analysis.

We searched the Web of Science Core Collection, PubMed, and Scopus to retrieve publications related to adrenocortical carcinoma using the structured three-step PRISMA methodology. Co-authorship and co-occurrence analyses were conducted to visualize collaborative and thematic networks.

This overview comprises 5507 documents. The number of publications on adrenocortical carcinoma has consistently increased over time. Most of these publications originate from North America and Europe. The co-occurrence map identified several major research clusters, with immunotherapy and targeted therapy emerging as new treatment modalities in recent years. The number of co-authoring institutions per publication was positively correlated with citation counts (Spearman's rank coefficient = 0.17, p < 0.0001).

This literature analysis provides an overview of the current research landscape on adrenocortical carcinoma, highlighting geographical disparities. International and interdisciplinary collaboration may enhance productivity and foster scientific progress.