Dipartimento di Oncologia, Biologia e Genetica, University of Genoa, Genoa, Italy.
Lung Cancer. 2010 Nov;70(2):129-35. doi: 10.1016/j.lungcan.2010.01.013. Epub 2010 Feb 18.
This study aims at comparing scientific production in malignant mesothelioma (MM) among countries and evaluating publication trends and impact factor (IF). The PubMed database was searched with a strategy combining keywords listed in the Medical Subject Headings and free-text search. Publications numbers and IF were evaluated both as absolute values and after standardization by population and gross domestic product (GDP). 5240 citations were retrieved from the biennium 1951-1952 (n = 22) to 2005-2006 (n = 535). The 177% increase of MM publications from 1987 to 2006 exceeded by large the corresponding value of total cancer literature (123.5%). In these two decades, 2559 articles with IF were published: 46.4% came from the European Union (EU) (the UK, Italy and France ranking at the top), and 36.2% from the US. The highest mean IF was reported for the US (3.346), followed by Australia (3.318), and EU (2.415, with the UK, Belgium and the Netherlands first). Finland, Sweden and Australia had the best ratio between IF (sum) and resident population or GDP. The number of publications correlated with GDP (p = 0.001) and national MM mortality rates (p = 0.002). An association was found between a country commitment to MM research and the burden of disease (p = 0.04). Asbestos, survival, prognosis, occupational exposure, differential diagnosis, and immunohistochemistry were the most commonly used keywords. This report represents the first effort to explore the geographical and temporal distribution of MM research and its determinants. This is an essential step in understanding science priorities and developing disease control policies.
本研究旨在比较恶性间皮瘤（MM）在各国的科研产出情况，并评估其发表趋势和影响因子（IF）。通过结合医学主题词和自由文本搜索中列出的关键词，对 PubMed 数据库进行了检索。评估了出版物数量和 IF 的绝对值以及按人口和国内生产总值（GDP）标准化后的数值。从 1951-1952 年（n = 22）到 2005-2006 年（n = 535），共检索到 5240 篇引文。1987 年至 2006 年间 MM 出版物的增长率超过了同期癌症文献的增长率（123.5%）。在这二十年中，发表了 2559 篇 IF 较高的文章：46.4%来自欧盟（英国、意大利和法国排名靠前），36.2%来自美国。美国报告的平均 IF 最高（3.346），其次是澳大利亚（3.318）和欧盟（2.415，英国、比利时和荷兰排名靠前）。芬兰、瑞典和澳大利亚在 IF（总和）与居民人口或 GDP 之间的比值最高。出版物数量与 GDP（p = 0.001）和国家 MM 死亡率（p = 0.002）相关。国家对 MM 研究的投入与疾病负担（p = 0.04）之间存在相关性。石棉、生存、预后、职业暴露、鉴别诊断和免疫组织化学是最常用的关键词。本报告首次尝试探索 MM 研究的地理和时间分布及其决定因素。这是了解科学重点和制定疾病控制政策的重要步骤。
