Bibliometrics-Based Mapping of Research on the Role of miRNAs in Oral Cancer.

Background: MiRNAs have essential research value and broad clinical application prospects in oral cancer.

Aims: We provided a comprehensive understanding of trends, current features, and priorities in the field of miRNA and oral cancer research based on bibliometrics.

Materials and methods: Reference records were obtained from the Web of Science core collection and analyzed using CiteSpace 6.2.4, VOSviewer 1.6.20, and GraphPad Prism 8.

Results: Results showed that between 2008 and 2024, a total of 1149 publications in the database were retrieved to study the role of miRNAs in oral cancer. The annual number of publications showed an increasing trend from year to year, peaking in 2021. Among them, China (470 articles), China Medical University (37 articles), and the journal Oral Oncology demonstrated the highest research productivity in terms of countries (regions), institutions, and journals.

Discussion: Keywords and cited literature indicate that the current research focus is mainly on microenvironmentally- derived miRNAs as potential diagnostic and therapeutic targets for oral cancer. Recent studies have gradually focused on the experimental study of drug delivery systems of miRNAs in treating oral cancer, which may become one of the important research directions in the future.

Conclusions: Thus, by searching the literature in the field of miRNAs and oral cancer from the Web of Science core collection and performing bibliometric analysis, the development of research and research hotspots in the last two decades was mapped out. This will provide valuable references and guidelines for relevant scholars and researchers to explore the direction in future research endeavors.