Abstract
BACKGROUND: Breast cancer (BC) immunotherapy exhibits disappointingly low response rates and faces significant challenges including systemic toxicity and poor tumor penetration, while delivery systems (DSs) offer revolutionary capacity to enhance efficacy and minimize adverse effects. Despite exponential growth in DSs research for BC immunotherapy, comprehensive bibliometric analyses examining the global research landscape and strategic development directions remain absent. METHODS: This study examined 675 publications related to DSs in BC immunotherapy from 2005 to 2025 using the Web of Science Core Collection database. Data visualization and analysis were conducted using VOSviewer (version 1.6.19), CiteSpace (version 6.2.R3), and the biblioshiny R package. RESULTS: The analysis included 64 countries, 1024 institutions, and 4334 researchers across 269 journals. The field exhibits a distinctive three-phase evolution with exponential growth since 2020. China dominates with 366 publications (54.2% of total output) and 12,518 citations, with Sichuan University as the most influential institution (n = 31). The Journal of Controlled Release leads in publications (n = 27) and co-citations (2,164). Huile Gao is the most prolific author with nine publications and an H-index of nine, while Y. Zhang has the highest number of co-citations, totaling 155. Five research clusters were identified: foundational nanotechnology platforms, immune-modulatory biomaterial systems, cancer subtype-specific precision therapies, clinical translational combination strategies, and barrier-penetrating specialized DSs. Future research emphasizes interdisciplinary research convergence, healthcare infrastructure restructuring, the development of universal platforms, and the establishment of individualized care ecosystems. CONCLUSION: This bibliometric analysis reveals that DSs in BC immunotherapy represent a rapidly maturing field that offers strategic insights for accelerating therapeutic implementation and improving therapeutic outcomes.