Mapping the technological trajectory of inorganic nanomaterials in the cancer field

Cancer remains one of the primary factors leading to premature death in humans. Conventional therapeutic approaches result in significant harm to normal tissue cells and impede the effective treatment of cancer. In recent years, the benefits of inorganic nanomaterials in cancer research have become increasingly evident, and they are expected to provide new ideas for diagnosing and treating cancer. This study aims to reveal the technological trajectory and important applications of inorganic nanomaterials in cancer diagnosis and treatment better to understand their technological development trends and technical priorities. A patent citation network was constructed to find the milestone patents of inorganic nanomaterials in the field of cancer by main path–derived path analysis, and a citation analysis method based on the PageRank (PR) algorithm was used to identify the high PR value patents of inorganic nanotechnology in cancer. The study found that the overall technological development trajectory of inorganic nanomaterials in cancer is linear, with a focus on enhancing technical aspects such as biological detection and imaging, drug delivery, phototherapy, magnetic hyperthermia, and radiotherapy, progressively enhancing the diagnostic and therapeutic effects, and realizing the integration of diagnosis and treatment. Gold nanomaterials are essential in cancer diagnosis and treatment. Carbon-based nanomaterials, magnetic nanomaterials, upconversion luminescent materials, copper-based nanoparticles, quantum dots, and other inorganic nanomaterials will become significant R&D directions.