A bibliometric analysis of malignant pleural mesothelioma from 2010 to 2023

Our plain-English summary of A bibliometric analysis of malignant pleural mesothelioma from 2010 to 2023, by S. Chen, C. Zhao, R. Liu, et al (Journal of Thoracic Disease, 2025).

The study

• Authors: S. Chen, C. Zhao, R. Liu, W. Jiao
• Journal: Journal of Thoracic Disease
• Published: 2025;17(4):2014-2027
• Cited by: 2 articles, as counted by NIH iCite
• Read it: PubMed · Publisher · Free full text

Abstract

Background: Malignant pleural mesothelioma (MPM) is an aggressive tumor originating from the mesothelial lining of the pleural cavity. It is characterized by extensive nodular pleural thickening and has a propensity to invade the pleural adipose tissue and adjacent chest structures. The prognosis is poor, with a median survival time rarely exceeding 12 months following diagnosis.

Methods: This bibliometric analysis systematically assessed global trends in MPM research from 2010 to 2023 using 6,487 publications indexed in PubMed. Quantitative evaluations of publication metrics, international collaboration, and keyword co-occurrence networks were conducted using R software with the bibliometrix package. Network construction and thematic mapping were employed to analyze the temporal evolution of research topics.

Results: The United States and Europe have played pivotal roles in this research, while contributions from China and Japan have been steadily increasing. Traditional treatment approaches and etiological studies are relatively well-established. Meanwhile, immunotherapy has emerged as a prominent focus of recent research.

Conclusions: Future global collaboration in this field should be enhanced, as precision medicine related to immunology and genetics has the potential to transform the treatment landscape of MPM.

Copyright © 2025 AME Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

In plain English

This bibliometric analysis counted and mapped published research rather than studying patients. They analysed 6,487 English-language mesothelioma articles indexed in PubMed from 2010 to 2023, published in 1,116 journals. Publications peaked at over 650 in 2021 and fell to 351 in 2023. Average citations per article were about 10 to 12 for 2010 to 2016 and below 1 by 2023. The article gave the United States the most contributors (2,841) and 6,971 publications, with Italy second (3,382), but did not explain how the US count exceeded the 6,487 articles analysed, and its Discussion said Italy leads. The University of Western Australia led institutions (220 publications). Anna K. Nowak (56 papers) and Takashi Nakano (55) were the most prolific of 28,365 authors. "Asbestos" was among the most frequent keywords, grouped with "white asbestos" in a cluster on environmental causes. Attention to immunotherapy, biomarkers and molecular targets grew over time. The authors concluded that research had shifted from conventional studies of causes toward new treatments. They noted that using only English-language PubMed records may have left out work, including many Chinese publications.

We wrote this plain-English summary from the full article with the help of AI, and a second AI model checked each sentence against the article. It is not the authors' wording; the abstract and the article are their own account.

What the study did and found

• Design: Bibliometric analysis (quantitative analysis of published literature) using R software with the bibliometrix package and CiteSpace
• Who was studied: 6,487 English-language articles on mesothelioma indexed in PubMed, published January 1, 2010 to December 31, 2023 (average 463 per year), from 1,116 journals
• Exposure: Not an exposure study. The analysis counted publications, citations, authors, countries and keywords. Asbestos appeared as one of the most frequent keywords.
• Main results:
  • Yearly publication numbers rose to a peak of over 650 articles in 2021.
  • Publications fell to 351 in 2023.
  • Average citations per article were about 10 to 12 for articles from 2010 to 2016.
  • Average citations fell to less than 1 per article for 2023 articles.
  • As reported in the Results, the United States had 2,841 contributors and a publication count of 6,971, and Italy followed with 3,382 (Figure 2B). The article does not explain how the US count can exceed the 6,487 articles analysed.
  • The Discussion, contradicting Figure 2B, stated that Italy leads in the number of publications.
  • The University of Western Australia ranked first among institutions with 220 publications.
  • 28,365 authors contributed, 10.67% of them in multi-center collaborations.
  • Anna K. Nowak (Australia) and Takashi Nakano (Japan) published the most papers: 56 and 55 respectively.
  • The most cited article in the set, 'Landscape of Microsatellite Instability Across 39 Cancer Types', had 682 citations.
  • In the keyword map, 'asbestos' and 'white asbestos' grouped in a cluster the authors described as environmental causes.
  • Over time, keyword trends showed increasing attention to immunotherapy, biomarkers and molecular targets.
• The authors' conclusion: The authors concluded that research on mesothelioma has shifted from conventional studies of causes (etiology) to exploring new treatment strategies, with growing emphasis on precision medicine and personalized therapy.
• Limitations the authors state:
  • The statistical methods may have missed niche studies in emerging fields, and keyword selection may affect how complete the results are.
  • Including only English-language literature may have excluded papers in other languages and introduced bias.
  • Exclusion of many Chinese publications because of language may under-represent China's contributions.
  • Inherent limitations of the PubMed database may cause slight deviations in the findings.

Topics

Medical terms in this study, explained in our Lexicon: Pleural Mesothelioma, Pleural Cavity, Pleural Thickening, Prognosis, Median Overall Survival, Immunotherapy.

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