Abstract
The programmed death receptor 1 (PD1) and its ligand programmed death receptor ligand 1 (PDL1) are the most widely used immune checkpoints in cancer immunotherapy. The related literature shows the explosive growth trends due to the promising outcomes of tumor regression. The present study aimed to provide a comprehensive bibliometric analysis of the literature on anti-PD1/PDL1 from three perspectives including molecular mechanisms, randomized clinical trials (RCT), and meta-analysis, thus producing a knowledge map reflecting the status of the research, its historical evolution, and developmental trends in related research from 2000 to 2020. We included 11,971, 191, and 335 documents from the Web of Science Core Collection database, respectively, and adopted various bibliometric methods and techniques thereto. The study revealed the major research themes and emergent hotspots based on literature and citation data and outlined the top contributors in terms of journals and countries. The co-occurrence overlay of keywords and terms pertaining to the PD1/PDL1 molecule reflected the progress from the discovery of the PD1/PDL1 molecule to the clinical application of anti-PD1/PDL1. Immune-related adverse events (irAEs) formed a unique cluster in the term co-occurrence analysis of meta-analysis. The historical direct citation network of RCT indicated the development and transformation of cancers and therapy strategies. irAEs and the strategies of combination therapy might become a future focus of research in this cognate area. In summary, the bibliometric study provides a general overview of the landscape on anti-PD1/PDL1 research, allowing researchers to identify the potential opportunities and challenges therein.
Highlights
Cancer is a public health problem and a major cause of mortality with significant repercussions on individual patients and societies
The current study focused on the publications on the programmed death receptor 1 (PD1)/programmed death receptor ligand 1 (PDL1) molecule and randomized clinical trials (RCT) as well as meta-analysis of anti-PD1/PDL1 therapy to provide a holistic view of related research to benefit researchers and patients for the first time
The results presented how the research focus had changed during time from molecular mechanisms to targeting PD1/ PDL1 pathway in combination with other therapies and the change process of therapy lines that anti-PD1/PDL1 were used in
Summary
Cancer is a public health problem and a major cause of mortality with significant repercussions on individual patients and societies. The strategies of cancer treatment have undergone a unique evolution (Mellman et al, 2011). The development of cancer immunotherapy has changed our understanding of cancer biology and the manners of treatment (Pardoll, 2012; Osipov et al, 2019). It can enhance antitumor responses by regulating the host immune system compared with traditional methods. The immune checkpoint blockade (ICB) has achieved great success due to its promising outcomes with regard to tumor regression (Liu et al, 2020)
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