Research Trends in the Early Diagnosis of Ovarian Cancer during 2001–2020: A Bibliometric Analysis

Abstract

Background: Ovarian cancer (OC) is the most fatal gynecologic malignancy tumor, and early diagnosis is difficult. There are few bibliometric studies on the early diagnosis of OC. This study aims to visualize the research trends on early diagnosis of OC through a bibliometric analysis. Methods: Publications on early diagnosis of OC from the Web of Science Core Collection (WoSCC) were downloaded. We used the CiteSpace software for bibliometrics and visualization analysis of publications, authors, cited authors, countries, institutions, references, cited journals, and keywords, etc. Results: 464 institutions in 70 countries published a total of 1015 articles during 2001–2020. The number of articles increased annually. With the United States of America (USA) and China as leading contributors. University College London (UCL) and the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center were the major research institutions, with a majority of top 10 institutions located in the USA. Gynecologic Oncology was the most published journal as well as the most co-cite. Usha Menon was the most frequently published author and Ian J. Jacobs was the most frequently cited author. Co-citation cluster labels revealed characteristics of 17 main clusters: CA125, proteomics, diagnostic/prognostic biomarkers, gene expression profiling, BRAF, randomized controlled trial (RCT), exosome, prognosis, epidemiology, salpingectomy, HE4, symptoms, human, ovary, the prognosis of OC, mucinous carcinoma, and tumor-associated antigens. Keywords burst detection showed that HE4, algorithm, pathway, expression, collaborative trial, RCT, serous carcinoma, and prognosis were recent research trends. Conclusions: This study used bibliometrics and visualization methods to illustrate research trends in the early diagnosis of OC during 2001–2020. In-depth study of traditional tumor markers, the discovery of DNA and non-coding RNA and exosomes, as well as gene chip, proteomics, mass spectrometry, immunohistochemistry, liquid biopsy, prophylactic Salpingectomy, and epidemiology in the diagnosis of early stage OC have important research value and application prospects. Finding more accurate biomarkers on the basis of basic and clinical studies, and carrying out larger and multi-center clinical trials, will be the focal points in the future.