# A bibliometric and visual analysis of colorectal cancer liver metastasis research from 2015 to 2025

## TL;DR

This study analyzes trends in colorectal cancer liver metastasis research from 2015 to 2025 using bibliometric and visualization tools to identify key authors, journals, and research hotspots.

## Contribution

The study provides a comprehensive bibliometric and visual analysis of colorectal cancer liver metastasis research trends and hotspots from 2015 to 2025.

## Key findings

- China is the leading country in CCLM publications, but American scholars have the highest average citations per publication.
- Pawlik, Timothy M. is the top scholar in CCLM research with the highest cumulative number of publications.
- Clinical research on CCLM focuses on gender, age, treatment outcomes, and disease-free survival in prospective studies.

## Abstract

Colorectal cancer liver metastasis (CCLM) is a common and serious complication of colorectal cancer and is one of the main causes of patient death. This study examines the trend of CCLM research using bibliometric and visualization analysis to provide a reference for further research.

We searched for publications related to CCLM published between 2015 and March 2025 in the Web of Science and PubMed databases and visualized and analyzed data using R (version 4.4.2), VOSviewer (version 1.6.20), and CiteSpace (version 6.3.R1) software.

A total of 8656 relevant publications were included. The number of CCLM publications has shown a steady upward trend from 2015 to 2025, with articles being the predominant type. The field has developed a larger number of core authors, with Pawlik, Timothy M. scholar having the highest cumulative number of publications. “Cancers” contributed the most publications. China is the country contributing the most publications in the field, but American scholars have the highest average number of citations per publicaton. “colorectal cancer”, “survival”, “cancer”, “chemotherapy”, “liver metastases”, “hepatic resection”, “surgery” and so on are the keywords that appear with high frequency in this field. The most frequently cited journal is “Annals of Surgery”. The most cited publication is “Clinical score for predicting recurrence after hepatic resection for metastatic colorectal cancer—Analysis of 1001 consecutive cases”. The citing journals are mainly in the fields of oncology, surgery, and imaging, while the cited journals also include some journals in other basic disciplines. Clinical research on CCLM has mainly focused on prospective studies, with an emphasis on gender, age, treatment outcomes, and disease-free survival.

This study comprehensively analyzes the current research status and hotspots in the field of CCLM, which can provide valuable references for future research and help other scholars grasp the dynamics of research in this field and discover potential research directions.