Research on microbial communities in tumor microenvironments: cutting-edge dynamics and future trends from a bibliometric perspective

From the Web of Science database, we retrieved 1,278 relevant articles. Since 2012, the number of papers published on the intratumoral microbiota has shown an overall upward trend. China and the United States are the two major countries in this field. Keyword analysis shows that "tumor microbiome," "gut microbiome," "cancer," and "<i>Fusobacterium nucleatum</i>" are frequent terms. 11 keyword groups have been identified, among which "tumor immunotherapy" and "immune microenvironment" form two important groups. A total of 69 preclinical and clinical studies has intervened in intratumoral microbiota and affected anti-tumor treatment outcomes. Among them, 25 studies involving <i>Fusobacterium nucleatum</i> account for a large proportion. However, most of these studies are still at the basic or preclinical stage, and clinical translation evidence is limited.