Global Trends and Research Progress of Photodynamic Therapy in Skin Cancer: A Bibliometric Analysis and Literature Review

BACKGROUND: Based on photochemical reactions through the combined use of light and photosensitizers, photodynamic therapy (PDT) is gaining popularity for the treatment of skin cancer. Various photosensitizers and treatment regimens are continuously being developed for enhancing the efficacy of PDT on skin cancer. Reviewing the development history of PDT on skin cancer, and summarizing its development direction and research status, is conducive to the further research. METHODS: To evaluate the research trends and map knowledge structure, all publications covering PDT on skin cancer were retrieved and extracted from Web of Science database. We applied VOSviewer and CiteSpace softwares to evaluate and visualize the countries, institutes, authors, keywords and research trends. Literature review was performed for the analysis of the research status of PDT on skin cancer. RESULTS: A total of 2662 publications were identified. The elements, mechanism, pros and cons, representative molecular photosensitizers, current challenges and research progress of PDT on skin cancer were reviewed and summarized. CONCLUSION: This study provides a comprehensive display of the field of PDT on skin cancer, which will help researchers further explore the mechanism and application of PDT more effectively and intuitively.