Global research landscape of ferroptosis in colorectal cancer: a multi-database bibliometric analysis (2017-2025)

Ferroptosis, an iron-dependent form of regulated cell death, has attracted increasing attention in recent years because of its critical roles in tumor progression, therapeutic resistance, and immune regulation. Colorectal cancer (CRC) is one of the most prevalent malignancies worldwide and imposes a substantial mortality burden. This study aimed to systematically analyze the global research landscape, hotspots, and developmental trends of ferroptosis in CRC research from 2017 to 2025.

English-language publications related to ferroptosis and CRC published between January 1, 2017, and December 31, 2025, were retrieved from the Web of Science Core Collection (WoSCC) and Scopus databases. A total of 1, 354 original articles and reviews were included. VOSviewer, CiteSpace, and the bibliometrix package in R were used for bibliometric and visualization analyses to evaluate annual publication trends, country/region and institutional collaboration networks, author contributions, journal distribution, co-cited references, keyword co-occurrence, and thematic evolution.

The number of publications in this field increased rapidly after 2020 and peaked in 2025. China ranked first in both publication output and total citations, followed by the United States, and China-United States collaboration constituted the core of the international collaboration network. Central South University was the most productive institution, while journals such as Frontiers in Oncology and Frontiers in Immunology served as major publication platforms. Research hotspots were mainly concentrated on chemotherapy resistance, the tumor immune microenvironment, PANoptosis, prognostic models, non-coding RNAs, gut microbiota, and the regulation of ferroptosis by traditional Chinese medicine and natural products.

Ferroptosis has become a rapidly evolving frontier in CRC research. The research focus is gradually shifting from fundamental molecular mechanisms toward translational medical directions, including chemosensitization, combination immunotherapy, reversal of drug resistance, and precise prognostic evaluation. This study provides a systematic reference for understanding the global knowledge structure and future research directions in the field of ferroptosis and CRC.