Bibliometric analysis on the correlation between colorectal cancer and tumor microenvironment [2009-2024]

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is a common malignancy worldwide, and its incidence and mortality are increasing annually. In recent years, researchers have gradually realized that the tumor microenvironment (TME) plays a crucial role in the development and progression of CRC. The in-depth study of CRC and its microenvironment provides not only a new perspective for understanding the occurrence and development of tumors, but also potential new strategies for clinical treatment. This study aims to explore the research hotspots and development trends between CRC and TME through bibliometric analysis.

The Web of Science Core Collection (WoSCC) was used to retrieve literature related to CRC and the TME published from 2009 to 2024. CiteSpace software and VOSviewer software were used to evaluate and visualize the authors, journals, institutions, countries, keywords and citations.

A total of 8,410 relevant articles were analyzed, and the number of published articles tended to increase. The countries and institutions that had with the highest number of publications in this field were China and Sun Yat-sen University. Ogino, S was the most prolific author and the most cited literature was Sung, Hyuna's article "Global cancer statistics 2020" published in the CA-A Cancer Journal for Clinicians. The journals with the most published articles and citations were Cancers and Clinical Cancer Research, respectively. Keyword analysis revealed that the current popular research topics included the "immunotherapy", "tumor microenvironment", "prognosis" and "inflammation".

The study of CRC and the TME is still a hot topic. Future research will focus more on the interaction between various immune cells and molecules, study the expression of cancer-related genes and proteins, and explore new therapeutic targets and prognostic markers. These findings provide strong support for the precise and individualized treatment of cancer.