Research trends in ferroptosis since the origin of the concept: A bibliometric analysis

Abstract

Ferroptosis is a newly characterized form of regulated cell death. This bibliometric analysis identified the scientific output, leading institutions and research teams, current research hotspots and trends in research on ferroptosis since the origin of the concept. We searched the Science Citation Index Expanded of Web of Science Core Collection for papers on ferroptosis up to 3 June 2022. The acquired data were analysed and visualized by Bibliometrix package and VOSviewer. The study ultimately included 3511 relevant papers, and annual production in this field has grown rapidly in recent years. Institutions and scholars from China contributed the most work, but the impact of their research was much less than that of the United States. Prof. Brent R. Stockwell's team from Columbia University in the United States has a very strong academic influence in the field. Front Cell Dev Biol published the most papers in the field of ferroptosis. As the keywords of the papers in this field changed from the most numerous ‘oxidative stress’, ‘cell-death’, ‘iron’, ‘expression’, and ‘lipid-peroxidation’, to ‘prognosis’, ‘immunotherapy’, ‘progression’, ‘tumour microenvironment’, and ‘colorectal cancer’, the hotspot of ferroptosis research is gradually shifting from basic research to clinical translational research. The mechanism of tumour formation and treatment will become the frontier in the field of ferroptosis research in the future.