A bibliometric and visual analysis of myeloid-derived suppressor cell research in the tumor microenvironment (2015–2025)

Myeloid-derived suppressor cells (MDSCs) are pivotal immunosuppressive cells within the tumor microenvironment (TME) that promote tumor progression and mediate resistance to immunotherapy. Despite sustained research interest, a comprehensive bibliometric overview of global research output in this field has not been systematically summarized. Publications were collected of MDSCs within TME from 2015 to 2025 by the Web of Science Core Collection and Scopus. Bibliometric analyses were performed using VOSviewer, CiteSpace, and bibliometrix to characterize annual publication trends, leading countries, institutions, authors, core journals, co‑cited references, thematic evolution, and emerging research frontiers. A total of 5,967 publications were included in this study. Annual publications increased nonlinearly, peaked in 2022, and subsequently stabilized with mild fluctuations. China and the United States (USA) were the dominant contributors, with the USA displaying superior citation impact and international collaboration. Fudan University, Sun Yat‑sen University, and the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center represented the most productive and influential institutions. Researchers including Gabrilovich DI, Bronte V, and Veglia F constituted the intellectual backbone of the field, with their landmark reviews displaying the strongest citation bursts. Frontiers in Immunology published the most articles and the highest co-cited journal was Cancer Research . TME, immunotherapy and MDSCs emerged as the three central themes. The field has undergone a paradigm shift from simplified MDSCs classification toward single‑cell sequencing, multi‑omics, subset heterogeneity, immune infiltration, and immune evasion. MDSCs are central regulators of the immunosuppressive TME and key drivers of immunotherapy resistance. Clinical translation of MDSC‑targeted therapies remains limited by tumor heterogeneity, TME complexity, and suboptimal combination strategies. Future research should emphasize standardized MDSC identification, context‑dependent regulatory mechanisms and rational combinatorial therapeutic designs to bridge the translational gap and facilitate clinical implementation of MDSC‑targeted cancer immunotherapy. Not applicable. This study is a bibliometric analysis and does not report on any clinical trial. The clinical trials (including NCT06439888) mentioned in the Discussion section were identified from the public registry ClinicalTrials.gov for contextual discussion and are not part of the authors’ own research.