Global Trends and Prospects Regarding Exosomes in Cancer Immunology Research Over the Past 10 Years

Abstract

Background: Exosomes and cancer immunology are both important areas of research for cancer treatment. As much effort has been made to explore the relationship between exosomes and cancer immunology, exosomes in cancer immunology have become a hotspot in medical research. Methods: We retrieved all relevant publications between 2011 and 2021 from the Web of Science and utilized Microsoft Excel 365, Citespace, Online Analysis Platform of Literature Metrology ( http://bibliometric.com/ ) and software including VOS viewer to analyze and visualize the research result. Results: Of the 820 studies included, China published the most articles, followed by the USA. Cooperation between countries has progressed over the past decade. Shanghai Jiao Tong University and Oncotargets and Therapy were the institution and journal that published the most articles respectively. The most frequently cited article in this field, titled “Pancreatic cancer exosomes initiate pre-metastatic niche formation in the liver,” was published in Nature Cell Biology. Keywords were divided into three: Mechanism research, treatment application research, and diagnosis and prognosis research of which the latter was the newest cluster. “Microenvironment,” “PD-L1” and “M2 macrophage” were representative new keywords while “tumor suppressor” was the keyword cited most frequently. Conclusion: The publication trend shows that cooperation between different countries and institutions contributes to the development of this field. Researchers should continue to extend collaborations for further advances. The rising relative research interest indicated that this is a hot topic with great research potential. Macrophages polarization and PD-L1 application in tumor immunotherapy are worthy of further research. Hotspots will likely transfer from mechanistic research to clinical research, particularly for methods to increase the survival rate and improve the prognosis of cancer patients.