Global Trends of Nutrition in Cancer Research: A Bibliometric and Visualized Analysis Study over the Past 10 Years

Quality of Life for Head and Neck Cancer Patients: A 10-Year Bibliographic Analysis

Head and neck cancers (HNCs) have a profound impact on patients, affecting not only their physical appearance but also fundamental aspects of their daily lives. This bibliometric study examines the landscape of scientific research pertaining to the quality of life (QoL) among head and neck cancer (HNC) patients. By employing data and bibliometric analysis derived from the Web of Science Core Collection (WOS-CC) and employing R-package and VOSviewer for visualization, the study assesses the current status of and prominent areas of focus within the literature over the past decade. The analysis reveals noteworthy countries, journals, and institutions that have exhibited notable productivity in this research domain between 2013 and 2022. Notably, the United States, the Supportive Care in Cancer journal, and the University of Pittsburgh emerged as the leading contributors. Moreover, there was a discernible shift, with an increasing focus on the significance of QoL within the survivorship context, exemplified by the emergence and subsequent peak of related keywords in 2020 and the subsequent year, respectively. The temporal analysis additionally reveals a transition towards specific QoL indices, such as dysphagia and oral mucositis. Therefore, the increasing relevance of survivorship further underscores the need for studies that address the associated concerns and challenges faced by patients.

Multicentric, observational, longitudinal study for the evaluation of nutritional management implications in newly diagnosed Italian cancer patients: the Italian Registry of Malnutrition in Oncology (IRMO)

BACKGROUND

Malnutrition is a frequent problem in oncology and is associated with reduced response to cancer treatments, increased drug-related toxicity, higher rates of clinical complications, reduced quality of life (QoL) and worse prognosis. Guidelines on clinical nutrition in oncology emphasise the usefulness of early assessment of nutritional status for a prompt identification of malnutrition and the implementation of effective interventions, but no real-world clinical data are available on the adequate management of nutritional support in patients with cancer in Italy.

METHODS AND ANALYSIS

This is an observational, longitudinal, multicentre registry of patients with a new diagnosis of cancer or metastatic disease, candidates for active treatment. They will be identified in at least 15 Italian oncological centres, members of the Alliance Against Cancer Working Group 'Survivorship Care and Nutritional Support'. At least 1500 patients with cancer are expected to be enrolled each year. Detailed clinical and nutritional data will be collected by oncologists and clinical nutritionists during the visits foreseen in the clinical practice, through an ad hoc developed digital platform (e-Nutracare). The effects of malnutrition and nutritional support-at diagnosis and during follow-up-on overall survival and progression-free survival, as well as on patients' symptoms and QoL, will be investigated.

ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION

The study protocol was approved by the Ethics Committee of the Fondazione IRCCS Policlinico San Matteo, Pavia, Italy and from the Ethics Committees of all other participating centres. An informed consent will be obtained from each patient enrolled in the study. Study findings will be disseminated through peer-reviewed journals, conferences and patients with cancer or professional associations. The registry will allow a better monitoring of the nutritional status of patients with cancer, promoting adequate and sustainable nutritional support, with the ultimate goal of improving the care and prognosis of these patients.

Tracking trends in COVID-19 vaccines based on 47 different vaccines: A bibliometric review

The COVID-19 epidemic in December 2019 had a significant negative impact on people's health and economies all across the world. The most effective preventive measure against COVID-19 is vaccination. Therefore, the development and production of COVID-19 vaccines is booming worldwide. This study aimed to analyze the current state of that research and its development tendency by bibliometrics. We conducted a thorough search of the Web of Science Core Collection. VOSviewer1.6.18 was used to perform the bibliometric analysis of these papers. A total of 6,325 papers were finally included. The USA maintained a top position worldwide. Shimabukuro Tom T and Harvard University were the most prolific author and institution. The Vaccines was the most published journal. The research hotspots of COVID-19 vaccines can be classified into vaccine hesitancy, vaccine safety and effectiveness, vaccine immunogenicity, and adverse reactions to vaccines. Studies on various vaccination types have also concentrated on efficacy against continuously developing virus strains, immunogenicity, side effects, and safety.

Trends in Diet and Cancer Research: A Bibliometric and Visualization Analysis

Diet plays a critical role for patients across the cancer continuum. The World Cancer Research Fund International and the American Cancer Society have published evidence supporting the role of nutrition in cancer prevention. We conducted an analysis of the literature on dietary nutrients and cancer to uncover opportunities for future research. The objective of the bibliometric analysis was to describe trends in peer-reviewed publications on dietary components and cancer and to highlight research gaps. PubMed was queried for manuscripts with diet- and cancer-related keywords and Medical Subject Headings (MeSH) terms. Metadata covering 99,784 publications from 6469 journals were analyzed to identify trends since 1970 on diet topics across 19 tumor types. Publications focused largely on breast, colorectal, and liver cancer, with fewer papers linking diet with other cancers such as brain, gallbladder, or ovarian. With respect to "unhealthy" diets, many publications focused on high-fat diets and alcohol consumption. The largest numbers of publications related to "healthy" diets examined the Mediterranean diet and the consumption of fruits and vegetables. These findings highlight the need for additional research focused on under-investigated cancers and dietary components, as well as dietary studies during cancer therapy and post-therapy, which may help to prolong survivorship.

Bibliometric and visualized analysis of 3D printing bioink in bone tissue engineering

Background: Applying 3D printed bioink to bone tissue engineering is an emerging technology for restoring bone tissue defects. This study aims to evaluate the application of 3D printing bioink in bone tissue engineering from 2010 to 2022 through bibliometric analysis, and to predict the hotspots and developing trends in this field. Methods: We retrieved publications from Web of Science from 2010 to 2022 on 8 January 2023. We examined the retrieved data using the bibliometrix package in R software, and VOSviewer and CiteSpace were used for visualizing the trends and hotspots of research on 3D printing bioink in bone tissue engineering. Results: We identified 682 articles and review articles in this field from 2010 to 2022. The journal Biomaterials ranked first in the number of articles published in this field. In 2016, an article published by Hölzl, K in the Biofabrication journal ranked first in number of citations. China ranked first in number of articles published and in single country publications (SCP), while America surpassed China to rank first in multiple country publications (MCP). In addition, a collaboration network analysis showed tight collaborations among China, America, South Korea, Netherlands, and other countries, with the top 10 major research affiliations mostly from these countries. The top 10 high-frequency words in this field are consistent with the field's research hotspots. The evolution trend of the discipline indicates that most citations come from Physics/Materials/Chemistry journals. Factorial analysis plays an intuitive role in determining research hotspots in this sphere. Keyword burst detection shows that chitosan and endothelial cells are emerging research hotspots in this field. Conclusion: This bibliometric study maps out a fundamental knowledge structure including countries, affiliations, authors, journals and keywords in this field of research from 2010 to 2022. This study fills a gap in the field of bibliometrics and provides a comprehensive perspective with broad prospects for this burgeoning research area.

Bibliometric analysis of RNA vaccines for cancer

Cancer represents a challenging medical problem worldwide. Several exploratory studies have been conducted to overcome these limitations. RNA vaccines play an important role in cancer prevention and treatment. Recent studies have shown that RNA vaccines play an important role in cancer prevention. However, there are currently no relevant bibliometric studies. This study aimed to apply bibliometrics to summarize the knowledge structure and research hotspots regarding the role of RNA vaccines in cancer. Publications related to RNA vaccines in cancer were searched on the web of science core collection (WoSCC) database. VOSviewers, CiteSpace and R package "bibliometrix" were used to conduct this bibliometric analysis. A total of 1399 articles were included, comprising 803 original articles and 596 reviews. The number of studies on RNA vaccines against cancer has been increasing annually. China and the United States were the principal countries of origin of publications. Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, NCI, and Duke University were the main organizations. Frontiers in Immunology is the leading journal in the field. Hot keywords included tumor antigens, lipid nanoparticles, emerging roles, and dendritic cells. This is the bibliometric study to summarize the research trends and development of RNA vaccines for cancer. This information will provide a reference for researchers studying RNA vaccines against cancer.

Bibliometric mapping of the landscape and structure of nutrition and depression research: visualization analysis

BACKGROUND

Numerous epidemiological studies have examined the relationship between dietary intake of specific foods or nutrients and the incidence of depression and have noted that nutrition has a significant impact on mental health. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to assess the state of research, the frontiers of research, and development trends in the field of nutrition and depression using bibliometric and visual analysis.

METHODS

We collected publications on the topic of nutrition and depression from Scopus between 2002 and 2021. Subsequently, we utilized VOSviewer 1.6.18 and Microsoft Excel 2013 to perform bibliometric analysis and visualization. Bibliometric analysis involves retrieving documents from a singular database, such as SciVerse Scopus or Web of Knowledge, and subjecting them to quantitative and qualitative analysis. Notably, gray literature is not considered in bibliometric analysis.

RESULTS

A total of 2171 publications on nutrition and depression were found between 2002 and 2021, namely 1855 (85.44%) original articles, 190 (8.75%) reviews, 38 (1.75%) letters, and 88 (4.05%) other types of publications. The most productive country was found to be the USA (n = 726; 33.44%), followed by Australia (n = 172; 7.92%), the United Kingdom (n = 158; 7.28%), China (n = 132; 6.08%), and Canada (n = 131; 6.03%). The remaining publications were from other countries (n = 852; 39.25%). According to the citation analysis, the retrieved papers were cited on an average of 26.6 times and had an h-index of 105 with 57,781 citations. The most frequent terms on the map include those related to (a) fatty acid links to depression and brain inflammation, (b) depression and eating disorders, and finally, (c) adherence to the Mediterranean diet and risk of depression.

CONCLUSIONS

The current study was the first novel bibliometric analysis of nutrition and depression research that used data extracted from Scopus for visualization network mapping. In recent years, the theme "Mediterranean diet adherence and risk of depression" has been identified more frequently, indicating that studies in this field have garnered considerable attention and reflect the most recent scientific advances. Researchers should continue to investigate nutrition and depression, and we believe this study provides significant information for researchers, nutritionists, and clinicians.

Mapping the global research landscape on nutritional support for patients with gastrointestinal malignancy: visualization analysis

BACKGROUND

Early nutritional treatment is crucial for the care of patients with operable and advanced gastrointestinal malignancies. Therefore, much research has focused on nutritional support for patients with gastrointestinal malignancies. Therefore, this study aimed to evaluate the global scientific output and activity with respect to nutritional support and gastrointestinal malignancy.

METHODS

We searched in Scopus for publications on gastrointestinal cancer and nutritional assistance published between January 2002 and December 2021. Then, using VOSviewer 1.6.18 and Microsoft Excel 2013, we conducted bibliometric analysis and visualization.

RESULTS

A total of 906 documents were published between 2002 and 2021, including 740 original articles (81.68%) and 107 reviews (11.81%). China ranked first (298 publications, 32.89%), Japan ranked second (86 publications, 9.49%) and the USA ranked third (84 publications, 9.27%). The organisation with the highest number of publications was the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences & Peking Union Medical College from China, with 14 articles, followed by the Peking Union Medical College Hospital from China and the Hospital Universitari Vall d'Hebron from Spain (13 publications for each). Before 2016, most studies focused on 'nutrition support for patients undergoing gastrointestinal surgery'. However, the latest trends showed that 'nutrition support and clinical outcomes in gastrointestinal malignancies' and 'malnutrition in patients with gastrointestinal cancer' would be more widespread in the future.

CONCLUSIONS

This review is the first bibliometric study to provide a thorough and scientific analysis of gastrointestinal cancer and nutritional support trends worldwide over the last 20 years. This study can aid researchers in decision-making by helping them understand the frontiers and hotspots in nutrition support and gastrointestinal cancer research. Future institutional and international collaboration is expected to accelerate the advancement of gastrointestinal cancer and nutritional support research and investigate more efficient treatment methods.

The research landscape of the quality of life or psychological impact on gynecological cancer patients: A bibliometric analysis

Background

Gynecological cancer is one of the most common cancers in women. The quality of life (QoL) or psychological impact has emerged as an outcome indicator in many clinical trials of gynecological cancer and gained much concern in the clinical setting at the start of the 21st century. Our paper conducted a bibliometric analysis of QoL or psychological impact on gynecological cancer patients to show the status and hotspots.

Methods

Related publications from 2000 to 2022 were included by screening from the Web of Science Core Collection (WOSCC) on 26 June 2022. The bibliometrics was analyzed and visualized by bibliometrix R-package, VOSviewer, and CiteSpace V.

Results

A total of 6,479 publications were included in our study. The publications in this field were increased annually. The United States (n = 2,075) was the country with the most published papers. Sydney University (n = 167) was the most productive affiliation. Gynecologic Oncology and Journal of Clinical Oncology were the most relevant and most cited sources, respectively. The article written by Bray F et al. has the highest citation. Kim J and Aaronson NK ranked first in most productive author and most co-cited author, respectively. The keywords "mortality", "fertility preservation", and "palliative care" have bursts till 2022, which represented the frontiers of this field.

Conclusion

Our study provides an overall analysis of QoL or psychological impact on gynecological cancer patients, which can serve as a reference in future research.

Current Characteristics of Herbal Medicine Interventions for Cancer on Clinical Databases: A Cross-Sectional Study

BACKGROUND

The utilization of herbal medicine has been noteworthy for treating cancer; however, there is not enough information regarding the characteristics of clinical trials of herbal medicine interventions. This study aimed to evaluate the characteristic of registered trials using herbal medicine interventions for cancer.

METHODS

A cross-sectional study was performed via the website ClinicalTrials.gov, ISRCTN registry, Chinese clinical trial registry, and international clinical trials registry platform to gather associated registered clinical trials using an advanced search with the developed keyword strategy as of March 26, 2023. All obtainable information from the trials was collected without any restrictions to conduct a comprehensive review.

RESULTS

A total of 169 registered trials were included for evaluation. Of all trials, 102 trials were eligible for this study. Countries from Asia registered the most trials (62.75%), and hospitals sponsored most of the trials (42.16%). Randomized, Phase 2, interventional trials were dominant, and approximately 64.71% of the trials anticipated recruiting less than 100 participants. More than half of the trials were from 2016 to 2023 (53.92%). While 45 trials were completed, only 16 trials had results for further analysis. According to the completed results, the types of herbal medicines from the trials mainly focused on lung, breast, and colorectal cancer.

CONCLUSION

This study is the first to explore the characteristics of clinical trials of herbal medicine for cancer registered in large clinical databases. The acquired trials had relatively informative data; however, better-designed trials may be needed for health professionals to consider herbal medicine as an option when treating cancer patients.

Global research trends in atherosclerosis: A bibliometric and visualized study

Background

Increasing evidence has spurred a considerable evolution of concepts related to atherosclerosis, prompting the need to provide a comprehensive view of the growing literature. By retrieving publications in the Web of Science Core Collection (WoSCC) of Clarivate Analytics, we conducted a bibliometric analysis of the scientific literature on atherosclerosis to describe the research landscape.

Methods

A search was conducted of the WoSCC for articles and reviews serving exclusively as a source of information on atherosclerosis published between 2012 and 2022. Microsoft Excel 2019 was used to chart the annual productivity of research relevant to atherosclerosis. Through CiteSpace and VOSviewer, the most prolific countries or regions, authors, journals, and resource-, intellectual-, and knowledge-sharing in atherosclerosis research, as well as co-citation analysis of references and keywords, were analyzed.

Results

A total of 20,014 publications were retrieved. In terms of publications, the United States remains the most productive country (6,390, 31,93%). The most publications have been contributed by Johns Hopkins Univ (730, 3.65%). ALVARO ALONSO produced the most published works (171, 0.85%). With a betweenness centrality of 0.17, ERIN D MICHOS was the most influential author. The most prolific journal was identified as Atherosclerosis (893, 4.46%). Circulation received the most co-citations (14,939, 2.79%). Keywords with the ongoing strong citation bursts were “nucleotide-binding oligomerization (NOD), Leucine-rich repeat (LRR)-containing protein (NLRP3) inflammasome,” “short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs),” “exosome,” and “homeostasis,” etc.

Conclusion

The research on atherosclerosis is driven mostly by North America and Europe. Intensive research has focused on the link between inflammation and atherosclerosis, as well as its complications. Specifically, the NLRP3 inflammasome, interleukin-1β, gut microbiota and SCFAs, exosome, long non-coding RNAs, autophagy, and cellular senescence were described to be hot issues in the field.