Global trends of targeted therapy for hepatocellular carcinoma: A bibliometric and visualized study from 2008 to 2022

Abstract

Background: Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is an exceedingly prevalent malignancy with an exceptionally poor prognosis. Targeted therapy is an effective treatment option for patients with advanced HCC. However, there have been no bibliometric analyses of targeted therapies for HCC. Methods: This study aimed to assess the current status and future directions of targeted therapy for HCC to provide future scholars with clearer research contents and popular themes. Methods: Literature on targeted therapy for HCC from 2008 to 2022 was obtained from the Web of Science (WoS) and assessed using bibliometric methodology. Additionally, the VOS viewer was applied in the visualization study to conduct bibliographic coupling, co-authorship, co-citation, and co-occurrence analyses of publications. Results: A total of 10,779 papers were subsequently selected. Over the past 15 years, there has been a progressive increase in the number of publications on an annualized basis. China released the most publications in the field, whereas the United States had the highest H-index. Cancers published the most papers. Fudan University had the greatest sway in this area. Studies could be divided into 5 clusters: “Gene and expression research,” “Mechanism study,” “Nanoparticle study,” “Targeted drug research,” and “Clinical study.” Conclusions: In the upcoming years, more papers on targeted therapy for HCC are expected to be released, demonstrating the potential for this topic to flourish. Particularly, “Clinical study” is the following trendy topic in this field. Other research subfields may likewise exhibit a continuous tendency towards balanced development.

Green Synthesis of Gold Nanoparticles from Polygahatous Polysaccharides and Their Anticancer Effect on Hepatic Carcinoma through Immunoregulation

“…Surgery is an effective treatment method for hepatic carcinoma, but it is not suitable for the majority of patients because of the usually advanced stages of hepatic carcinoma at diagnosis . Targeted treatment with sorafenib has achieved significant effect in the systemic treatment, but it can be ineffective due to the abnormal heterogeneity of hepatic carcinoma and rapid development of drug resistance, and the 3-month survival rate is still low. − Immune checkpoint inhibitors such as nivolumab, altizolizumab, and bevacizumab are used for immunotherapy of hepatic carcinoma, and relatively good effects, including prolonged overall survival (OS) and progression-free survival (PFS), can be obtained. − However, the effects of immunotherapy are still limited, and hepatic carcinoma is prone to recurrence and distant metastasis. In addition, targeted therapy and immunotherapy in hepatic carcinoma could cause various adverse effects such as gastrointestinal toxicity, hepatotoxicity, and endocrine-related toxicity.…”