Psychotherapeutic interventions for patients with cancer: emerging trends and research frontiers from a bibliometric perspective

Abstract Objective: This study maps the research landscape of psychological treatment in oncology from 2000 to 2024, with a focus on identifying core thematic hotspots, tracing temporal trajectories, outlining geographic, institutional distributions, and distilling future directions for patient-centered psychosocial care. Methods: A bibliometric analysis was conducted on records from the Web of Science Core Collection using VOSviewer. We examined keyword co-occurrence to identify themes and cocitation patterns to delineate knowledge structures, alongside descriptive analyses of temporal growth and country/institution outputs. Results: Scholarly output has grown steadily over the period. Dominant hotspots include psychological interventions aimed at quality of life, management of depression and anxiety, supportive/palliative care, and issues salient to survivorship. Emerging fronts feature technology-enabled approaches—mHealth/telemedicine and Artificial Intelligence (AI)–assisted screening or support—together with the rising use of mindfulness/meditation as adjunctive strategies. Site-specific psychosocial needs (e.g., by cancer type) and movement toward personalized psychosocial care are increasingly visible. Geographic and institutional patterns indicate concentrated contributions from major research hubs with expanding participation from additional regions. Conclusion: Psychotherapeutic interventions for patients with cancer are integral to comprehensive cancer care. Evidence points toward personalized, technology-informed, and survivorship-oriented psychosocial models. Future work should refine patient-centered interventions, strengthen outcome comparability, and extend evidence across diverse settings and cancer types.