The utilization of bacteria for tumor treatment has a long-standing history. In recent years, with the continuous advancement of genetic engineering technologies, genetically engineered bacteria have attracted widespread attention in tumor-related research; however, to date, no bibliometric analysis has been reported for this field. In this study, bibliometric methods were employed to comprehensively evaluate the current research status, hotspots, and development trends of genetically engineered bacteria in the tumor field. Studies focusing on genetically engineered bacteria and tumors were retrieved from the Web of Science Core Collection (WOSCC) database and the Scopus database, and bibliometric and visualization analyses were conducted using R, VOSviewer, Scimago Graphica, and CiteSpace. Finally, we discuss the current limitations and challenges associated with the application of genetically engineered bacteria in the tumor field. Future research should focus on improving the safety, targeting capability, and clinical feasibility of engineered bacteria, as well as systematically investigating the interaction mechanisms among different therapeutic modalities, in order to promote the clinical translation of genetically engineered bacteria for tumor treatment.
Zhu et al. (Tue,) studied this question.