Emerging trends of BCG immunotherapy for bladder cancer in last decade: a bibliometric and visualization analysis

Xingfeng Chen; Fang He; Wenjin Zhang; Yao Fu; Zhiqin Cao

doi:10.3389/fonc.2023.1092969

Emerging trends of BCG immunotherapy for bladder cancer in last decade: a bibliometric and visualization analysis

Front Oncol. 2023 Apr 14:13:1092969. doi: 10.3389/fonc.2023.1092969. eCollection 2023.

Authors

Xingfeng Chen¹, Fang He², Wenjin Zhang³, Yao Fu⁴, Zhiqin Cao⁵

Affiliations

¹ School of Nursing, Shanxi Medical University, Taiyuan, China.
² Department of General Surgery, Shanxi Bethune Hospital, Third Hospital of Shanxi Medical University, Shanxi Academy of Medical Sciences, Tongji Shanxi Hospital, Taiyuan, China.
³ Urology Department, Third Hospital of Shanxi Medical University, Shanxi Bethune Hospital, Shanxi Academy of Medical Sciences, Tongji Shanxi Hospital, Taiyuan, China.
⁴ School of Public Health, Shanxi Medical University, Taiyuan, China.
⁵ School of Nursing, Shanxi University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Taiyuan, China.

Abstract

Background: One of the milestones in bacterial-mediated therapy for cancer, Bacillus Calmette-Guerin (BCG) has been used to treat bladder cancer (BC) for more than 30 years. BCG immunotherapy is now the standard of care for high-grade non-muscle invasive bladder cancer (NMIBC) following transurethral resection.

Methods: We searched the Web of Science core collection (WoSCC) database and used bibliometric methods through CiteSpace (version 5.1.R6), VOSviewer (version 1.6.18) and R-Bibliometrix (version R 4.2.1) to analyze and discuss the current status and trends of BCG therapy of BC from 2012 to 2021 in terms of co-occurrence, co-polymerization and visualization.

Results: A total of 2476 publications were found, with the majority coming from the United States and China. Over the last decade, overall yearly outputs have increased fivefold, from 117 papers in 2012 to 534 records in 2021. Most publications were produced by the University of Texas System. The authors, Ashish M. Kamat of the University of Texas-MD Anderson Cancer Center in the United States, and Shahrokh F. Shariat of Weill Cornell Medical College, were pioneers in this field with the most publications. The journals, Urologic Oncology Seminars and Original Investigations, Cancers and Frontiers in Oncology, have published a dramatic increase in the number of articles, and tumor and urology nephrology research directions have received the most attention from journals. Furthermore, recent research has concentrated on muscle-invasive bladder cancer (MIBC). BCG therapy mechanism, BCG dose and strains, targeted therapy and immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) for BC were attractive research contents, with ICIs (PD-1, PD-L1) being the most popular study point in recent years. With more research on tumor immunology, screening for more reliable biomarkers for precision treatment, and the development of combination regimens of ICIs, targeted treatment of BC stem cells, and personalized BC therapies may be promising areas of immunotherapy research in the coming years.

Conclusion: The results of this bibliometric study can provide the current status and research trends of BCG therapy for BC in the last decade, and also further complements the research content of bacterial-mediated cancer therapy.

Keywords: BCG; bibliometric analysis; bladder cancer; immune checkpoint inhibitors; immunotherapy; web of science.

Grants and funding

This study was funded by Shanxi Province “136 Revitalization Medical Project Construction Funds” and the Shanxi Bethune Hospital, Shanxi Academy of Medical Sciences, Tongji Shanxi Hospital Foundation (Grant No. 2021YH10).