Bibliometric analysis of research trends and hotspots in immunotherapy biomarkers for non-small cell lung cancer from 2015 to 2024.

[BACKGROUND] Immunotherapy has revolutionized the treatment of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), offering promising alternatives to traditional therapies. This study aimed to conduct a bibliometric analysis to identify research hotspots and emerging themes in immunotherapy biomarkers for NSCLC from 2015 to 2024.

[METHODS] Articles and reviews from the Web of Science Core Collection (January 1, 2015–December 31, 2024) were retrieved on June 23, 2025. Networks of countries, institutions, authors, journals, co-cited references, and keywords were constructed using CiteSpace and VOSviewer, with visualizations created using Scimago Graphica.

[RESULTS] A total of 2134 publications by 14,723 researchers from 73 countries and 3670 institutions, across 427 journals, were included. The number of annual publications increased steadily, peaking at 404 in 2024. China led in publication volume, while the U.S. had the highest citation impact. Tongji University was the most productive institution, and Caicun Zhou was the most prolific author. Among the journals, Cancers had the highest publication volume, while Lung Cancer had the highest citation frequency. The key topics identified included immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs), programmed death-ligand 1 (PD-L1), tumor mutational burden (TMB), liquid biopsy, and combination therapy. Emerging fields included the tumor microenvironment (TME), radiomics, proliferative signaling, and the gut microbiota.

[CONCLUSION] This bibliometric analysis provides a comprehensive overview of NSCLC immunotherapy biomarker research, highlighting key trends and emerging directions. These insights are crucial for advancing precision immunotherapies and biomarker-driven strategies.

[GRAPHICAL ABSTRACT] [Image: see text]