Current Perspectives and Trend of Acupuncture in Breast Cancer-Related Symptoms: A Bibliometric Study

Abstract

Purpose

This bibliometric research aims to delineate global publication trends and emerging research interests in the use of acupuncture for breast cancer (BC)-related symptoms treatment over the past three decades. Furthermore, it identifies influential institutions, potential collaborative partners, and future research trends, thereby providing guidance for relevant, novel research directions.

Methods

Scientific publications related to acupuncture for BC-related symptoms were gathered from the Web of Science Core Collection (WoSCC) from 1993 to 2023. Four software applications were principally used to analyze the resulting data: the “bibliometrix” package in the R environment (version 4.2.3), VOSviewer, CiteSpace6.1.R6, and the bibliometrics website. These applications were employed to evaluate different parameters.

Results

A total of 621 papers on acupuncture in BC-related symptoms treatment were analyzed. The United States, China, and South Korea contributed the most, with Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, and Columbia University leading institutions. It is interesting to mention that Mao, Jun J. and Molassiotis, A. feature among the top 10 authors and co-cited authors. JAMA is the leading journal, with an ongoing focus on acupuncture’s effectiveness. Keywords show that the initial research focus was mainly on “vasomotor symptoms”, but in recent years there has been a gradual shift towards “pain”, “chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy (CIPN)”, “electroacupuncture”, and “non-specific effects”.

Conclusion

Acupuncture has demonstrated a unique value in the process of adjuvant treatment of BC-related symptoms, and has been shown to be effective in reducing pain, eliminating fatigue, and improving quality of life. The study of the mechanisms of acupuncture and the application of electroacupuncture are possible future research priorities in this field. This study offers a deep perspective on acupuncture for BC research, highlighting key points and future trends.

Keywords:

• breast cancer-related symptoms
• acupuncture
• bibliometric study
• cancer pain
• CiteSpace
• VOSviewer

Data Sharing Statement

The data can be acquired directly from the WoSCC.

Ethics Approval

This article does not contain any studies involving either human or animal subjects, thus, institutional review board ethical approval was not required.

Acknowledgments

We thank all of the publications and writers who contributed to this study.

Author Contributions

All authors agreed to submit the work to the current journal, gave final approval of the version to be published, and agreed to be responsible for all aspects of the work. They also all actively participated in the conception and design, acquisition, analysis, and interpretation of the data, contributed significantly to the article’s writing, or critically revised it for important intellectual content.

Disclosure

The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest in this work.

Additional information

Funding

This research was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 81804181) and the Hangzhou Science and Technology Development Plan Project (No. 202004A13).