A bibliometric analysis of research trends and hotspots regarding macrophage polarization in lung cancer

Macrophage polarization, which affects the lung cancer tumor microenvironment and treatment response through M1/M2 phenotypic transformation, has become a key research area. However, there is a lack of systematic bibliometric analysis. Therefore, this study employed bibliometric methods to comprehensively review the research trends and hotspots in this field.

A comprehensive search was conducted using the Web of Science Core Collection (WoSCC) and Scopus databases for English-language literature published between January 1, 2010, and August 1, 2025. A multidimensional visual analysis of nations, institutions, authors, journals, references, and keywords was performed on the 508 included articles utilizing bibliometric tools VOSviewer, CiteSpace, and Bibliometrix.

The number of publications in this field shows an upward trend. From 2010 to 2016, it was in the initial growth stage; from 2017 to 2021, it entered a period of steady growth. After 2022, research activities increased significantly and reached a peak in 2025 (n=131). Frontiers in Immunology (n=25) had the highest number of publications, while Nature Nanotechnology (1,299) had the highest co-citation frequency. Wang Yi-Ching (n=5, H-index =4) and Yang Bo (n=4, H-index =4) are the core authors representing the development of this discipline. China (n=370) has the largest number of publications, and representative institutions include Fudan University (n=19), Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences (n=15), and Shanghai Jiao Tong University (n=14). The USA (94.65) demonstrates the most significant academic influence. Research hotspots have gradually shifted from the correlation between the early macrophage polarization phenotype and the pathological characteristics of lung cancer to molecular mechanisms such as signaling pathways, metabolic reprogramming, and exosomes, and have further expanded to the directions of nanoparticle targeted delivery and clinical translation of immune checkpoint inhibitors.

The research in this field has advanced from phenotypic description to mechanism integration and translational research, with nano-intervention and immune regulation being the cutting-edge directions. In the future, attention should be focused on the clinical translation pathways of personalized regulation strategies.