Bin Jian Feng, Chen Long Fei, Wang Yan, Ge Hua, Chen Wei
Department of Gastrointestinal Surgery, The Third Affiliated Hospital of Zunyi Medical University (Zunyi First People's Hospital), Zunyi, China.
Hepatobiliary Surgery Department, The Third Affiliated Hospital of Zunyi Medical University (The First People's Hospital of Zunyi), Zunyi, China.
Front Immunol. 2025 Jun 18;16:1580405. doi: 10.3389/fimmu.2025.1580405. eCollection 2025.
Colorectal cancer (CRC) is the third highest malignant tumor in the world in terms of incidence rate, accounting for about 10% of all cancer cases and the second leading cause of cancer related deaths. Timely diagnosis and effective treatment are key to significantly improving the survival rate of CRC patients. Various factors including gender, environmental factors, lifestyle choices, and genetic predisposition are all causes of the onset of CRC. Circular RNA(circRNA) mainly exists in cancer cells and tissues, solid tumors, peripheral blood, exosomes, and body fluids (such as serum, plasma, and saliva). Due to their resistance to degradation and presence in body fluids, CircRNA is non-invasive and an ideal candidate for liquid biopsy, thus having high diagnostic potential. Current research has found that circRNA can regulate the proliferation, migration, invasion, and apoptosis of CRC cells.
This article aims to comprehensively evaluate the current status and trends of circRNA research in the field of CRC through bibliometric analysis. Intended to use software tools such as VOSviewer, CiteSpace, Microsoft Excel, and R language package to illustrate research progress and focus, in order to outline development trends and future research directions.
This study used specific inclusion and exclusion criteria to investigate 1048 papers published before December 31, 2023 in the core database of the World Council for Scientific Knowledge. Our research findings indicate that China has the highest number of published papers in this field, with Nanjing Medical University and Kiavash Hushmandi considered the most influential institutions and authors. The Journal ofOncology Frontiers is the journal with the most published papers, while the article "Circular RNA: The New Star of Non coding RNA" is the journal with the most published papers. In addition, terms such as "signaling pathway", "promoting metastasis", "promoting proliferation", and "drug resistance" have become important focuses in this research field.
This study indicates that the focus between circRNA and CRC has shifted from studying the biological characteristics of circRNA to studying the regulation of circRNA molecular mechanisms. Future research should emphasize the potential use of circRNA as a biomarker for the diagnosis, prognosis, and treatment of CRC.
结直肠癌（CRC）是全球发病率第三高的恶性肿瘤，约占所有癌症病例的10%，是癌症相关死亡的第二大主要原因。及时诊断和有效治疗是显著提高CRC患者生存率的关键。包括性别、环境因素、生活方式选择和遗传易感性在内的各种因素都是CRC发病的原因。环状RNA（circRNA）主要存在于癌细胞和组织、实体瘤、外周血、外泌体和体液（如血清、血浆和唾液）中。由于其对降解的抗性以及在体液中的存在，circRNA是非侵入性的，是液体活检的理想候选者，因此具有很高的诊断潜力。目前的研究发现，circRNA可以调节CRC细胞的增殖、迁移、侵袭和凋亡。
本文旨在通过文献计量分析全面评估circRNA在CRC领域的研究现状和趋势。打算使用VOSviewer、CiteSpace、Microsoft Excel和R语言包等软件工具来说明研究进展和重点，以勾勒发展趋势和未来研究方向。
本研究使用特定的纳入和排除标准，调查了2023年12月31日前在世界科学知识理事会核心数据库中发表的1048篇论文。我们的研究结果表明，中国在该领域发表的论文数量最多，南京医科大学和Kiavash Hushmandi被认为是最具影响力的机构和作者。《肿瘤学前沿杂志》是发表论文最多的期刊，而文章《环状RNA：非编码RNA的新星》是发表论文最多的期刊。此外，“信号通路”、“促进转移”、“促进增殖”和“耐药性”等术语已成为该研究领域的重要重点。
本研究表明，circRNA与CRC之间的重点已从研究circRNA的生物学特性转向研究circRNA分子机制的调控。未来的研究应强调circRNA作为CRC诊断、预后和治疗生物标志物的潜在用途。
