Revelations of pancreatic cancer treated by high-intensity focused ultrasound

Pancreatic cancer remains among the most treatment-refractory solid malignancies worldwide. High-intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) surgery is a treatment option with the advantage of providing cancer pain relief. However, there has been limited research addressing the trends in pancreatic cancer treatment utilizing HIFU surgery.

Publications on pancreatic adenocarcinoma treatment utilizing HIFU surgery in the Web of Science Core Collection (WoSCC) were identified and analyzed by visualization software VOSviewer and CiteSpace. This approach provides comprehensive insights into the knowledge structure of the field.

A total of 1172 articles published from 1999 to 2024 were identified in the WoSCC, showing a consistent rise in the publication volume and average annual citation frequency related to pancreatic adenocarcinoma treatment utilizing HIFU surgery. The United States and China contributed the most publications. There were six clusters summarized including descriptions of clinical trials of pancreatic cancer, basic research, mechanisms of HIFU surgery, combined therapy effect of pancreatic cancer, attenuated symptom of pancreatic cancer, and metastatic pancreatic cancer.

Based on this bibliometric analysis of the publications over the last twenty years, it is the first scholarly visualization in the domain of pancreatic cancer treated with HIFU surgery. The clinical research regarding the efficacy of this technology should be developed in the future. It provides clinicians and researchers with a reliable synopsis, changes, and evolution regarding the field, offering a reference point for existing research and suggesting new avenues for future investigations.