Bibliometric analysis of lung cancer organoid research: trends and emerging areas of study.

Background: Lung cancer remains the leading cause of cancer-related mortality worldwide, posing a substantial global health burden. Despite advances in early detection, molecular profiling, and targeted therapies, patient outcomes remain unsatisfactory due to tumor heterogeneity, therapeutic resistance, and the lack of reliable preclinical models. In recent years, lung cancer organoids (LCOs), patient-derived three-dimensional (3D) culture systems, have demonstrated the ability to preserve the histological architecture and genomic features of primary tumors more faithfully than conventional models, making them a promising platform for translational research and precision medicine. This study aims to quantitatively evaluate the global research output, identify major contributors and collaboration patterns, and systematically uncover research hotspots and emerging trends in the field of LCOs through bibliometric analysis. Methods: A systematic bibliometric analysis was conducted using publications on LCOs retrieved from the Web of Science Core Collection (WoSCC). Articles published between 2015 and 2024 were included. A total of 356 publications were analyzed. Publication outputs, country and institutional contributions, collaboration networks, and keyword co-occurrence were evaluated using Bibliometrix (R package), VOSviewer, and CiteSpace. Results: The number of publications on LCOs has increased steadily over the past decade, reflecting growing research interest and technological advancement. China and the United States were identified as the leading contributors, accounting for the majority of publications, while Germany, South Korea, and Japan also demonstrated strong research capacity and active collaboration. Keyword and thematic analyses revealed several major research hotspots, including personalized medicine, drug response and resistance mechanisms, tumor microenvironment modeling, and immune-related interactions. Burst keyword analysis further identified emerging trends, such as co-culture systems, immunotherapy evaluation, and the integration of LCOs with high-throughput screening and multi-omics approaches. Conclusions: LCOs have evolved into a versatile platform bridging basic research and clinical applications in lung cancer. This study provides a comprehensive overview of the current research landscape and highlights emerging directions in the field. Future research should focus on methodological standardization, optimization of organoid construction and evaluation, integration with multi-omics and immune models, and strengthened international collaboration to facilitate clinical translation and improve patient outcomes.