Using temporal heatmaps to identify worthwhile articles on immune checkpoint blockade for melanoma (ICBM) in Mainland China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan since 2000: A bibliometric analysis

Melanoma is a life-threatening form of skin cancer. Due to its remarkable effectiveness, the immune checkpoint blockade is widely used to treat melanoma (ICBM). No research has been conducted on ICBM for identifying the most readable articles. A bibliometric analysis of 100 top-cited ICBM (T100ICBM) in recent decades is required to highlight articles worth reading. METHODS: Based on the Web of Science Core Collection, we summarized the articles on ICBM published in each year from 2000 to 2022, with first authors from Mainland China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan (CHT). Using the CJAL score, data extraction and visualization of the distribution of ICBM publications were conducted on 2718, and 100 top-cited articles, respectively. We used the temporal heatmap to identify the most readable articles. Four descriptive, diagnostic, predictive, and prescriptive analytics (called DDPP model) were applied to describe the features of T100ICBM articles. The absolute advantage coefficient was used to determine the dominance extent of the most influential region, institute, department, and author. RESULTS: A total of 2718 publications was included after removing first or corresponding authors who were not affiliated with CHT. Publications by year showed a sharp increase from 2014 onward and either peaked in 2022 or have not yet peaked. It was evident that there was a large difference between the number of publications in provinces/metropolitan cities/regions on CHT. Beijing, Sichuan University, Oncology, and Guo Jun from Beijing are the most prolific and influential region, institute, department, and author. When comparing research achievements to the next productive authors based on the CJAL score, only Dr Jun has a medium effect of dominance (=0.60). On the basis of their consecutive growth in citations over the past 4 years, 20 T100ICBM articles were recommended for readers. CONCLUSION: The field of ICBM is growing rapidly, and Beijing and Sichuan University are taking the lead in CHT. Furthermore, the study provides references for worth-reading articles using the temporal heatmap. Future research hot spots may focus on these 4 themes of immunotherapy, melanoma, metastatic melanoma, regulatory T cells, cells, and activation, which may pave the way for additional study.