Research trends in endoscopic applications in early gastric cancer: A bibliometric analysis of studies published from 2012 to 2022

BACKGROUND: Endoscopy is the optimal method of diagnosing and treating early gastric cancer (EGC), and it is therefore important to keep up with the rapid development of endoscopic applications in EGC. This study utilized bibliometric analysis to describe the development, current research progress, hotspots, and emerging trends in this field. METHODS: We retrieved publications about endoscopic applications in EGC from 2012 to 2022 from Web of Science™ (Clarivate™, Philadelphia, PA, USA) Core Collection (WoSCC). We mainly used CiteSpace (version 6.1.R3) and VOSviewer (version 1.6.18) to perform the collaboration network analysis, co-cited analysis, co-occurrence analysis, cluster analysis, and burst detection. RESULTS: A total of 1,333 publications were included. Overall, both the number of publications and the average number of citations per document per year increased annually. Among the 52 countries/regions that were included, Japan contributed the most in terms of publications, citations, and H-index, followed by the Republic of Korea and China. The National Cancer Center, based in both Japan and the Republic of Korea, ranked first among institutions in terms of number of publications, citation impact, and the average number of citations. Yong Chan Lee was the most productive author, and Ichiro Oda had the highest citation impact. In terms of cited authors, Gotoda Takuji had both the highest citation impact and the highest centrality. Among journals, Surgical Endoscopy and Other Interventional Techniques had the most publications, and Gastric Cancer had the highest citation impact and H-index. Among all publications and cited references, a paper by Smyth E C et al., followed by one by Gotoda T et al., had the highest citation impact. Using keywords co-occurrence and cluster analysis, 1,652 author keywords were categorized into 26 clusters, and we then divided the clusters into six groups. The largest and newest clusters were endoscopic submucosal dissection and artificial intelligence (AI), respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Over the last decade, research into endoscopic applications in EGC has gradually increased. Japan and the Republic of Korea have contributed the most, but research in this field in China, from an initially low base, is developing at a striking speed. However, a lack of collaboration among countries, institutions, and authors, is common, and this should be addressed in future. The main focus of research in this field (i.e., the largest cluster) is endoscopic submucosal dissection, and the topic at the frontier (i.e., the newest cluster) is AI. Future research should focus on the application of AI in endoscopy, and its implications for the clinical diagnosis and treatment of EGC.