Chen Ling, Zheng Yuxian, Zheng Daitian, Li Zhiyang, Chen Hongwu, Chen Chujun, Yu Shuxian
Breast Center, Cancer Hospital of Shantou University Medical College, Guangdong, Shantou, China.
Nursing Department, Shantou University Medical College, Guangdong, Shantou, China.
Front Oncol. 2025 Feb 4;15:1440966. doi: 10.3389/fonc.2025.1440966. eCollection 2025.
Breast cancer-related lymphedema (BCRL) is a common and debilitating complication following breast cancer treatment. Despite its significant impact on patients' quality of life, bibliometric analyses focusing on BCRL are scarce. This study aims to explore global research trends on BCRL from 2000 to 2023, identify existing knowledge gaps, and highlight emerging focus areas through a bibliometric approach.
A comprehensive search was conducted using the Web of Science (WOS) database to retrieve literature published between January 2000 and November 2023. Bibliometric analyses and visualizations were performed using R Studio, CiteSpace, and VOSviewer. Key data extracted included publication trends, contributing countries and institutions, leading authors, journals, research categories, and keywords. Outcome measures for analysis included the number of publications, citation counts, author productivity, and keyword co-occurrence.
A total of 919 eligible publications from 52 countries and regions, 1,163 institutions, and 3,550 authors were identified. These publications appeared in 255 journals, with "" emerging as the journal with the highest citation count. The USA was the most prolific contributor to the field. The annual number of publications demonstrated a consistent upward trend. Keyword co-occurrence analysis revealed prominent research hotspots, including "lymphedema," "women," "breast cancer," "arm lymphedema," and "quality of life." Emerging keyword trends from 2021 to 2023 highlighted "prevention" and "validity" as pivotal research frontiers.
This bibliometric study highlights the growing interest in breast cancer-related lymphedema research and identifies key areas for future investigation, including prevention, diagnosis, and treatment strategies. The results underscore the need for further exploration of these emerging research areas to improve patient outcomes.
乳腺癌相关淋巴水肿（BCRL）是乳腺癌治疗后常见且使人衰弱的并发症。尽管其对患者生活质量有重大影响，但针对BCRL的文献计量分析却很少。本研究旨在通过文献计量方法探索2000年至2023年全球关于BCRL的研究趋势，确定现有知识差距，并突出新兴重点领域。
使用科学网（WOS）数据库进行全面检索，以获取2000年1月至2023年11月期间发表的文献。使用R Studio、CiteSpace和VOSviewer进行文献计量分析和可视化。提取的关键数据包括发表趋势、贡献国家和机构、主要作者、期刊、研究类别和关键词。分析的结果指标包括出版物数量、被引频次、作者生产力和关键词共现情况。
共确定了来自52个国家和地区、1163个机构以及3550名作者的919篇符合条件的出版物。这些出版物发表在255种期刊上，其中《》是被引频次最高的期刊。美国是该领域贡献最多的国家。出版物的年数量呈持续上升趋势。关键词共现分析揭示了突出的研究热点，包括“淋巴水肿”“女性”“乳腺癌”“手臂淋巴水肿”和“生活质量”。2021年至2023年的新兴关键词趋势突出了“预防”和“有效性”作为关键研究前沿。
这项文献计量研究突出了对乳腺癌相关淋巴水肿研究的兴趣日益增长，并确定了未来研究的关键领域，包括预防、诊断和治疗策略。结果强调需要进一步探索这些新兴研究领域以改善患者预后。
