Abstract
BACKGROUND: Lung cancer is one of the most prevalent tumor diagnoses and a leading cause of cancer-related mortality worldwide. Among its two primary subtypes, non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) accounts for approximately 80-85% of all lung cancer cases. Over the past decade, a significant number of publications have explored the application of nanomaterials in NSCLC. This study aimed to comprehensively evaluate the current state and evolving trends in research focused on utilizing nanomaterials as potent diagnostic and therapeutic tools for NSCLC. METHODS: To identify all pertinent publications, we used the Web of Science Core Collection (WoSCC) database. Based on stringent inclusion and exclusion criteria, relevant publications were carefully selected. For the bibliometric and visual analyses, we employed VOSviewer (version 1.6.20), CiteSpace (version 6.1.6), and R-bibliometrix (version 4.3.2). RESULTS: Our analysis encompassed 1880 studies that fulfilled the inclusion criteria. We observed a steady increase in annual publications from 2014 to June 22, 2024. China, the USA, and India have emerged as leading nations in this field. Notably, the Chinese Academy of Sciences and Wang J stood out as the most influential institutions and authors, respectively. Most publications are featured in The International Journal of Nanomedicine. The keywords used in these publications were closely tied to non-small cell lung cancer and nanomaterials. In the past three years, "green synthesis" exhibited the highest burst strength, while "immune response" and "nanocrystal" represented emerging areas of intense research interest. CONCLUSION: Through our exhaustive analysis, we synthesized the current research trends and emerging landscapes of nanomaterials in NSCLC. We characterized the publication patterns, pinpointed the most influential nations, institutions, authors, journals, and hot topics related to nanomaterial applications in NSCLC, and proposed potential avenues for future development.