Production Trends, Collaboration, and Main Topics of the Integrative and Complementary Oncology Research Area: A Bibliometric Analysis

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2019-03Department
Enfermería y Fisioterapia; Ingeniería InformáticaSource
Integrative Cancer Therapies Volume 18: 1– 14Abstract
Background: The prevalence of cancer has increased over time worldwide. Nevertheless, the number of deaths has been
reduced during the past 2 decades. Thus, one-third of the cancer patients are users of complementary and alternative
therapies, looking for other types of interventions. The main aim of the present study is to understand the current status of
the research in integrative and complementary oncology. Three different aspects were analyzed: production trends, country
collaboration, and leading research topics. Methods: The dataset was obtained from the documents indexed under the
Integrative and Complementary Medicine category of the Web of Science database from 1976 to 2017. VOSviewer and
SciMAT software were employed to perform the bibliometric analysis. Results: The Journal of Ethnopharmacology, China
Medical University and the People’s Republic of China are the leading producers in the field. Regarding the collaboration,
the United States and China present a close connection. The scientific community is focused on the following topics:
apoptosis, breast cancer, oxidative stress, chemotherapy, and nuclear factor-Kappa-B (NF-Kappa-B). Conclusions: The
present article shows potentially important information that allows understanding of the past, present, and future of
research in integrative and complementary oncology. It is a useful evidence-based framework on which to base future
research actions and academic directions.