Abstract
BACKGROUND: Recently, numerous studies have reported the application of nanomedicines in colorectal cancer treatment. However, no systematic bibliometric analysis has been conducted to examine the potential and mechanisms of action of nanomedicine in this context. Such an analysis may provide a comprehensive overview of the current research landscape, identify emerging trends, and highlight key areas for future investigation. AIM: To describe the current global research landscape on the application of nanomedicine in colorectal cancer treatment. METHODS: The Web of Science Core Collection database was searched for literature published from January 1, 2010, to August 7, 2024, focusing on the application of nanomedicine in colorectal cancer treatment. Bibliometric analysis and visualization mapping of countries, institutions, authors, keywords, references of the relevant research literature were conducted using CiteSpace (6.2R6), VOSviewer (1.6.20), and bibliometrix (based on R 4.3.2). RESULTS: A total of 3598 articles were included, with a rapid increase in publication volume starting from 2010. China published the most papers on this topic, followed by the United States and India. The United States emerged as the central country in this field, and the Egyptian Knowledge Bank and Chinese Academy of Sciences were the institutions with the highest number of publications. The Chinese Academy of Sciences exhibited the highest centrality. The most prolific author was Zhang Y, whereas Siegel RL was the most cited author, and Li Y had the highest H-index. The International Journal of Nanomedicine had the most publications and Biomaterials received the most citations. Keyword co-occurrence analysis identified 11837 keywords grouped into 13 clusters with 15 high-frequency highlighted keywords. The top three keyword clusters were "0 colorectal cancer", "1 drug delivery", and "2 delivery", with the top three keywords being "nanoparticles", "colorectal cancer", and "drug delivery". CONCLUSION: Research on nanomedicine for colorectal cancer has surged since 2010, focusing on "nanoparticles" and "drug delivery". Future studies should investigate nanomaterial stability and target-specific drug release.