Skip to main content

SYSTEMATIC REVIEW article

Front. Pharmacol.
Sec. Pharmacology of Anti-Cancer Drugs
Volume 15 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fphar.2024.1388253

Knowledge Mapping of Metformin Use on Cancers: A Bibliometric Analysis (2013-2023)

Provisionally accepted
Chaomin Pan Chaomin Pan Yiyi Wei Yiyi Wei Jingping Dai Jingping Dai Li Yang Li Yang ZhuoYu Ding ZhuoYu Ding *Xinke Wang Xinke Wang *
  • Nanfang Hospital, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, Guangdong Province, China

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    There is substantial evidence from clinical and preclinical studies suggesting an association between metformin use and a reduced risk of cancer. However, the effects of metformin use on cancershave not yet been subjected to bibliometric analysis. The goal of this study was to explore the potential effects of metformin use on cancers and to conduct a comprehensive assessment of research hotspots related to the use of metformin on cancers. The results of the literature analysis were visualized using various tools such as Adobe Illustrator CC 2018, VOSviewer, CiteSpace, and the R package "bibliometrix." The average annual publications from 2013 to 2023 was 372. In terms of journals and co-cited journals, a total of 1064 journals published 1958 papers, and Oncotarget published the highest number of papers (n = 153, 7.81%), while Cancer Research (Co-citation = 5125) was the most frequently cited journal. A total of 25,665 authors participated in the research on metformin use on cancers. Metformin has demonstrated improved outcomes in various types of cancer, including breast cancer (BC), lung cancer (LC), colorectal cancer (CRC), prostate cancer (PC), and pancreatic cancer. This bibliometric analysis reviews the current literature on the clinical data on metformin use on cancers and describes the preclinical evidence illustrating the potential mechanisms of metformin use on various cancers directly or indirectly.

    Keywords: Bibliometrics, Metformin, Cancers, Citespace, VOSviewer

    Received: 19 Feb 2024; Accepted: 29 Jul 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Pan, Wei, Dai, Yang, Ding and Wang. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence:
    ZhuoYu Ding, Nanfang Hospital, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, 510515, Guangdong Province, China
    Xinke Wang, Nanfang Hospital, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, 510515, Guangdong Province, China

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.