A bibliometric analysis of research hotspots and trends of nitric oxide donors application in cancer therapy from 1995 to 2025

BACKGROUND: Nitric oxide (NO) is a critical signaling messenger that maintains normal physiological conditions in the human body. However, the complex roles of NO in cancer biology has stimulated the development of NO donors to achieve controllability and specificity of their anti-tumor effects. We aimed to investigate the research trends and hotspots of the applications of NO donors in cancer therapy from a bibliometric perspective. METHODS: Literature associated with the applications of NO donors in cancer treatment published during 1995-2025 was extracted from the Web of Science Core Collection database. VOSviewer and R-bibliometrix were employed to conduct co-author analysis of countries, institutions, and authors, as well as co-occurrence analysis of journals, references, and keywords. RESULTS: A total of 2752 publications were identified and the trends of yearly global production displayed a consistently rising tendency over the past three decades. The USA contributed the most extensive publications and the greatest number of citations in this field. China Pharmaceutical University contributed the most publications and Basil Rigas was the predominant researcher in this research domain. The analysis of keyword co-occurrence indicated that the main research hotspots included "nitric-oxide", "mechanisms", "nanoparticles", "apoptosis", "oxidative stress", "synthase", "tumor-necrosis-factor", and "activation". CONCLUSION: Research of NO donors in cancer therapy has received continuous attention over the past three decades and the USA has made significant contributions to this field. The frontiers of this topic have shifted from the broad anti-cancer therapeutic mechanisms of NO to precise molecular mechanisms, and ultimately translated to therapeutically translational applications of NO-based synergistic therapy.