Bibliometric and visualization analysis of HER2-low expression in breast cancer from 2000 to 2024.

Abstract

This bibliometric study analyzed research articles published between 2000 and 2024, identified influential publications, key contributing authors and journals, and depicted the developmental trajectory of HER2-low breast cancer research. Publications on HER2-low expression in breast cancer from 2000 to 2024 were retrieved from the Web of Science Core Collection (WoSCC) database. Bibliometric analysis and data visualization were performed using VOSviewer, CiteSpace, and R 4.3.3. The analysis covered a total of 592 articles, showing a sharp rise in publication output after 2021. China, the United States, France, Japan, and Italy were identified as the top 5 countries contributing research on HER2-low expression in breast cancer. The 5 leading institutions in this field were Unicancer, University of Texas System, Harvard University, UTMD Anderson Cancer Center, and Fudan University. The most prolific journals publishing studies on HER2-low expression in breast cancer included Breast Cancer Research and Treatment, Cancers, Frontiers in Oncology, Clinical Cancer Research, and Breast Cancer Research. The most productive authors were Giuseppe Curigliano and Xu Binghe. Emerging research topics included advancements in the treatment of HER2-low expression, as well as the development of detection methods and guidelines. This study provides an overview of articles on HER2-low expression in breast cancer published over the past 24 years. It highlights the most frequently cited papers, authors, and journals, identifying emerging trends in the field. These findings reflect the continuous evolution of HER2 as a therapeutic target in breast cancer treatment.