BACKGROUND
In recent years, immunogenic cell death (ICD) has been intensively studied. ICD is a form of regulated cell death (RCD) that is sufficient to trigger an adaptive immunological response specific for antigens produced on dying cells.
OBJECTIVE
This study aimed to analyze the foundation and frontiers of ICD research through bibliometric analysis.
METHODS
Articles and reviews on ICD from 2012 to 2022 were obtained from the Web of Science Core Collection and Pubmed. Countries, institutions, authors, journals, references, and keywords were analyzed and visualized using VOSviewer and CiteSpace.
RESULTS
In total, 2986 publications were included in the study. The global literature on ICD research has increased from 2012 to 2022. China and the United States contributed the greatest number of articles. Among the top 10 institutions, 50% were in France. The Chinese Academy of Sciences was the most productive institution. Kroemer G, Zitvogel L, Kepp O, and Galluzzi L were the most productive and co-cited authors. Oncoimmunology (n = 116), Frontiers in Immunology (n = 95), and Cancers (n = 92) published the most papers on ICD. The analysis of keywords found that current ICD-related research focuses on “PD-L1”, “cancer immunotherapy”, “tumor immune microenvironment”, and “nanoparticles”.
CONCLUSIONS
ICD research has increased over the years, and future cooperation and interaction between countries and institutions must be expanded. Current ICD research focuses mostly on its mechanism molecules, the crosstalk between different forms of RCD, and its involvement in illnesses. The research on ICD in cancer and the new cancer therapy related to ICD may be future research hotspots.