Research trends of uveal melanoma: a bibliometric study and visualization analysis

摘要

Background: Uveal melanoma is the most prevalent intraocular malignancy. In preceding decades, many studieshave been published on uveal melanoma. However, so far, uveal melanoma-related bibliometric studies have notbeen reported. Methods: Uveal melanoma-related articles and reviews published between 2005 and 2019 wereretrieved in the Web of Science Core Collection on March 15, 2020. Three bibliometric tools (HistCite, VOSviewer,and CiteSpace) were employed to conduct the current study. Results: A total of 3,404 publications related to uvealmelanoma were identified, involving 3015 articles (88.57) and 389 reviews (11.43) with 65,429 co-citedreferences in 9 languages, which were published by 2,875 institutions in 66 countries/regions. The United Statescontributed to most publications (n = 1427, 41.92), and the Thomas Jefferson University was involved in most ofthe studies (n = 160, 5.56). Investigative Ophthalmology Visual Science published the majority of the papers (n= 175, 5.14), whereas Ophthalmology received the most co-citations (n = 7050). Shields CL owned the mostpublications and co-citations (n = 122 and 2151, respectively). Gene and molecular biology aspects, prevalence, themain prognosis factor, and treatment were the intellectual foundations of uveal melanoma research. In the field ofuveal melanoma, emerging hotspots of uveal melanoma include epidemiologic characteristics, prognosis factors,mechanisms of uveal melanoma development, the use of novel predictive tools, and clinical applications of noveltargeted drugs. Conclusion: This first bibliometric study focused on the integral tendency of the past 15 years,identified landmark items, and revealed current research hotspots in the field of uveal melanoma, which will providereferences for clinicians and researchers, as well as an example of visualization analysis to explore research hotspotsin other fields.