A bibliometric and scientific knowledge-map study of the chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) natural killer (NK) cell-related research from 2010 to 2022.

OBJECTIVES

As emerging adoptive immunotherapy after CAR-T cell therapy, CAR-NK cell therapy has been developing rapidly in recent years. Presently, the research on CAR-NK cells has become a hotspot in the field of tumor immunotherapy.

METHODS

In this descriptive study, CtieSpace and VOSviewer were used to perform the bibliometric and scientific knowledge-map analysis of articles and reviews related to CAR-NK cells.

RESULTS

5371 authors from 715 institutions in 65 countries published 1028 papers about CAR-NK cells in 346 journals. The number of publications related to CAR-NK cells was increasing overall, especially from 2018 to 2021. The United States was in a leading position. The most active institution was Univ Texas, MD Anderson Cancer Center (USA). The journal with the most publications was , and the most co-cited journal was . The researcher with the most published papers was Winfried S. Wels, while the most co-cited researcher was Shannon L Maude. The research of CAR-NK cells in hematological malignancies and solid tumors (especially the selection of targets and the evaluation of efficacy and safety) was a research hotspot in this field. The emerging topics mainly included three aspects. First, further improve the proliferation and persistence of NK cells . Secondly, optimizing and improving the CAR structure for NK cells to improve the anti-tumor ability of CAR-NK cells. Thirdly, the related research of CRISPR/Cas9 gene-editing technology in constructing engineered immune cells.

CONCLUSION

In this study, a bibliometric and scientific knowledge-map study provided a unique and objective perspective for the CAR-NK cell field. This information would provide a helpful reference for researchers interested in this field.