Analysis of the trends in publications on clinical cancer research in Mainland China from the surveillance, epidemiology, and end results (SEER) database: Bibliometric study

Abstract

Background: The application of China’s big data sector in cancer research is just the beginning. In recent decades, more and more Chinese scholars have used the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) database for clinical cancer research. A comprehensive bibliometric study is required to analyze the tendency of Chinese scholars to utilize the SEER database for clinical cancer research and provide a reference for the future of big data analytics. Objective: Our study aimed to assess the trend of publications on clinical cancer research in mainland China from the SEER database. Methods: We performed a PubMed search to identify papers published with data from the SEER database in mainland China until August 31, 2020. Results: A total of 1566 papers utilizing the SEER database that were authored by investigators in mainland China were identified. Over the past years, significant growth in studies based on the SEER database was observed (P