Global research trends in oncolytic virotherapy for sarcomas of bone and soft tissue (2000-2024): a bibliometric and visualization study.

BACKGROUND

Oncolytic viruses (OVs) represent a class of naturally occurring or genetically engineered viruses that selectively infect and lyse tumor cells while sparing normal tissues. Sarcomas of bone and soft tissue are malignant neoplasms originating from mesenchymal tissues, encompassing a wide spectrum of pathological subtypes. Current standard treatments primarily involve surgical resection, radiotherapy, and neoadjuvant chemotherapy, with oncolytic virotherapy emerging as a promising therapeutic approach in this field.

METHODS

The Web of Science Core Collection was comprehensively searched for literature on oncolytic virotherapy for bone and soft tissue sarcomas. After filtering, a total of 192 articles published between January 1, 2000, and December 31, 2024, were included in the final analysis. A bibliometric analysis was performed for the evaluation of multiple dimensions, including international collaboration, country and institutional contributions, publishing journals, authorship, keyword co-occurrence, reference patterns, citation counts, research topics, and publication chronology.

RESULTS

The most cited article was authored by E. Galanis et al., published in Gene Therapy in 2005, and received 166 citations. This study investigated the intratumoral injection of ONYX-015 combined with the MAP (mitomycin C + adriamycin + cisplatin) chemotherapy regimen in sarcoma patients. The journal Viruses was featured most frequently among the included publications (n=9), while the Ohio State University was the most productive institution (n=16). The United States contributed the largest number of articles (n=100).

CONCLUSIONS

The current study analyzed 192 publications concerning oncolytic virotherapy for bone and soft tissue sarcomas over the past 25 years. This information identifies recent research frontiers and hot directions, which would provide a reference for scholars studying oncolytic virotherapy for sarcomas of bone and soft tissue.