Current trends and future prospects of epidemiology of HPV-induced oropharyngeal cancer: a bibliometric analysis.

HPV-induced oropharyngeal cancer (HPV-OPC), caused by persistent infection with high-risk subtypes such as HPV16 and HPV18, poses a significant global health challenge. Epidemiological research on HPV-OPC focuses on prevention, detection, distribution, and disease incidence, revealing an increasing OPC burden related to HPV exposure. The objective of this study was to identify research hotspots and trends in HPV-OPC epidemiology, highlighting the role of epidemiology in guiding prevention and control strategies. A bibliometric analysis of 960 articles (published between 1987 and 2025) from the Web of Science Core Collection, SCOPUS, and PubMed Central was performed, using Python to assess collaborations across countries, institutions, and individuals, as well as literature citation, research timelines, and clustering. Results show a substantial increase in publications, especially from 2013 to 2025, with researchers in United States and China as leading contributors and identifies several prolific authors. Research has primarily focused on HPV vaccination, screening, attributable fraction, and incidence prediction, though challenges such as data quality, vaccination efficacy, limited resource, and modeling limitations also are foci. Future directions include improving data reliability, promoting early and direct vaccination, strengthening international funding, and integrating multiple models. This bibliometric study provides valuable insights into research hotspots and future directions in HPV-OPC, offering researchers and clinicians an overview of current situations and future developments in HPV-OPC epidemiology, potentially improving HPV vaccination and screening strategies and promoting preventive and diagnostic approaches to reduce OPC incidence.