Research Hotspots of Traditional Chinese Medicine for Liver Cancer in the Future Directions: A Bibliometric Analysis

Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) demonstrates growing potential in liver cancer management, yet a comprehensive overview mapping the intellectual landscape and evolving trends of this field is lacking. This study aims to fill this gap by conducting a systematic bibliometric analysis of TCM for liver cancer research over the past decade.

We performed a bibliometric analysis of publications related to TCM and liver cancer retrieved from major databases including China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), Wanfang, VIP, and Web of Science. The search timeframe spanned from February 14, 2015, to the search date (February 14, 2025). The literature was analyzed using scientific mapping tools, such as CiteSpace, Origin 2024, R, and VOSviewer, to identify publication trends, collaborative networks, research hotspots, and frontier topics.

The analysis reveals a steadily growing and globally engaged field, with China being the dominant contributor. While core research teams are emerging, international and cross-regional collaborations remain limited. A clear thematic divergence exists: international literature primarily focuses on exploring the pharmacological mechanisms of TCM compounds, whereas Chinese-language studies place greater emphasis on clinical applications, medication rules, data mining, and TCM syndrome differentiation. Key emerging research frontiers include mechanisms of action, omics technologies, bioinformatics technology, network pharmacology and molecular docking, TCM syndrome research, TCM theory innovation and exploration, TCM nanodelivery, data mining, and deep learning.

This bibliometric review provides a comprehensive landscape of TCM research for liver cancer, highlighting its dynamic growth and the complementary nature of mechanistic and clinical research streams. The findings underscore the necessity for enhanced international collaboration to bridge existing gaps and foster integrated, innovative approaches for advancing TCM in oncology.