Research trends in cervical cancer brachytherapy: a bibliometric analysis

Cervical cancer (CC) was a significant gynecological malignancy. Brachytherapy (BT) has found extensive application in cervical cancer radiotherapy, attributed to its remarkable features of high-precision positioning and highly conformal dose distribution. However, the field lacks a comprehensive bibliometric analysis. This research provides a comprehensive bibliometric analysis of cervical cancer brachytherapy trends and key topics, projecting future research directions.

A search was executed within the Web of Science Core Collection for publications on cervical cancer brachytherapy until 2025/6/23. Analytical tools were utilized to conduct in-depth bibliometric and visual analyses of the relevant online publications. The analyses covered multiple aspects, including countries/regions, institutions, authors, journals, and keywords.

A total of 2924 articles were analyzed, showing an upward trend. The USA was the most productive country, with the Medical University of Vienna leading in publications. Brachytherapy had the highest number of publications. Tanderup K was the most prolific author, while Pötter R was the most frequently co-cited author. The latest high-frequency keywords included "cervical cancer," "interstitial brachytherapy," and "image-guided brachytherapy," among others. Through keyword co-occurrence-based cluster analysis, 10 distinct clusters were generated, effectively highlighting the research hotspots and frontiers in cervical cancer brachytherapy.

With medical imaging informatics advancing, research on cervical cancer brachytherapy has become increasingly profound. Recently, areas such as image-guided-adaptive-brachytherapy, effective biological dose, and radionecrosis have attracted significant research attention. Future research is expected to focus on developing and enhancing artificial intelligence (AI) tools to optimize brachytherapy treatment planning, aiming to benefit a larger number of cervical cancer patients.