Global insight of tertiary lymphoid structures and inspiration: A visualized and bibliometric study

Abstract

Abstract Background Various significant roles of tertiary lymphoid structures (TLSs) have been revealed, particularly as a predictor of better prognosis and high immunotherapy response in cancer. This study aims to present global insight and succedent potential hot topics of TLSs, facilitating its future application in the clinic. Methods A literature screening of research on TLSs from 1999 to 31 July 2023 was actualized by using the Web of Science Core Collection database. The number of publications, countries, institutes, authors, journals, hot spots, and potential trends were summarized with bibliometric and visualized analysis, applying software including VOSviewer, CiteSpace, and R package. Results A total of 1964 papers were included. A significant increase in annual publications was observed in 2016 and 2020, with the maximum number of publications (351 papers) occurring in 2022. France was the most influential country, while the United States was the most productive. In addition, the United Kingdom has persisted long for the research on TLSs. Udice French Research University has published the most documents. Frontiers in Immunology was the most productive journal. The latest trends showed that the roles of TLSs and even inclusive B cells in immunotherapy, particularly in clinical trials, have been concerning and will be explored more in-depth in the future. Conclusions This study provides the first global trend and characteristics of the literature on TLSs, which facilitates further research and clinical applications. Exploration of the role of TLSs in cancer and immunotherapy will continue to be an attractive direction, especially for the B cells in TLSs.