Copyright
©The Author(s) 2024. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
Telomerase-related advances in hepatocellular carcinoma: A bibliometric and visual analysis
Hai-Yang Li, Lin-Lin Zheng, Nan Hu, Zhi-Hao Wang, Chang-Cheng Tao, Ya-Ru Wang, Yue Liu, Zulihumaer Aizimuaji, Hong-Wei Wang, Rui-Qi Zheng, Ting Xiao, Wei-Qi Rong
Hai-Yang Li, Lin-Lin Zheng, Nan Hu, Chang-Cheng Tao, Yue Liu, Hong-Wei Wang, Wei-Qi Rong, Department of Hepatobiliary Surgery, National Cancer Center/National Clinical Research Center for Cancer/Cancer Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Beijing 100021, China
Zhi-Hao Wang, Department of Hepatobiliary Hernia Surgery, Liaocheng Dongcangfu People’s Hospital, Liaocheng 252000, Shandong Province, China
Ya-Ru Wang, Zulihumaer Aizimuaji, Rui-Qi Zheng, Ting Xiao, State Key Laboratory of Molecular Oncology, Department of Etiology and Carcinogenesis, National Cancer Center/National Clinical Research Center for Cancer/Cancer Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Beijing 100021, China
Co-first authors: Hai-Yang Li and Lin-Lin Zheng.
Co-corresponding authors: Wei-Qi Rong and Ting Xiao.
Author contributions: Li HY, Zheng LL, Xiao T, and Rong WQ designed this study; Hu N and Tao CC collected the data; Li HY and Zheng LL performed the analysis; Wang YR and Wang ZH normalized the pictures; Li HY, Liu Y, and Aizimuaji Z wrote the original draft; Wang HW and Zheng RQ approved the final manuscript; all authors contributed to the article and approved the submitted version. Li HY and Zheng LL collaboratively served as co-first authors in this study, with both individuals contributing equally and significantly to data analysis, manuscript composition, and editing. Their collective efforts played integral roles in upholding the manuscript’s integrity and ensuring its overall quality. Xiao T and Rong WQ have jointly assumed the roles of co-corresponding authors, demonstrating equal and shared responsibility in guiding the project. The decision to designate them as such is rooted in two key considerations. Firstly, Xiao T and Rong WQ played instrumental roles in the primary project design, thereby enhancing the overall methodological rigor of the study. Secondly, this choice aims to recognize and honor the equitable contributions of the co-corresponding authors, emphasizing the principles of teamwork and collaboration inherent in this research endeavor.
Supported by the Beijing Hope Run Special Fund of Cancer Foundation of China, No. LC2020L05.
Conflict-of-interest statement: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.
PRISMA 2009 Checklist statement: The authors have read the PRISMA 2009 Checklist, and the manuscript was prepared and revised according to the PRISMA 2009 Checklist.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See:
https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/ Corresponding author: Wei-Qi Rong, MD, Professor, Surgeon, Department of Hepatobiliary Surgery, National Cancer Center/National Clinical Research Center for Cancer/Cancer Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, No. 17 Panjiayuan South Lane, Beijing 100021, China. dr_rongweiqi@163.com
Received: November 11, 2023
Peer-review started: November 11, 2023
First decision: December 7, 2023
Revised: January 3, 2024
Accepted: February 3, 2024
Article in press: February 3, 2024
Published online: March 7, 2024
ARTICLE HIGHLIGHTS
Research background
Telomerase activation is common in hepatocellular carcinogenesis and might become a key biomarker for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) patients. Its influence on the genesis and treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma has gained much attention over the past two decades.
Research motivation
To Evaluate the present state of research and the research hotspots in the field of HCC and telomerase will help bridge the information gap and reveal promising research insights.
Research objectives
To provide a comprehensive overview of the current research on HCC/telomerase via bibliometric analysis.
Research methods
The Web of Science Core Collection and PubMed were systematically searched to retrieve publications pertaining to HCC/telomerase. VOSviewer and R software were utilized to conduct the analysis.
Research results
A total of 873 publications on HCC/telomerase were identified. A surge of 51 studies happened in 2016, the peak yearly citation counts in this field. China emerged as a leading contributor, and Asia represented the bulk of research done in this field, consistent with the high incidence of regional liver diseases. Four major clusters were generated using keywords co-occurrence analysis.
Research conclusions
Our study provides the first general analysis of HCC-related telomerase gene expression over the past two decades via bibliometric analysis. Advances in telomerase reverse transcriptase (TERT) treatment, such as vaccination or immunotherapy, are highly valuable and warrant further study.
Research perspectives
Keywords such as mutational landscape, TERT promoter mutations, landscape, risk, and prognosis have been topics of interest in this field in recent years and likely suggest the upcoming research directions.
