Advances in Breast Cancer Management and Extracellular Vesicle Research, a Bibliometric Analysis

Extracellular vesicles transport variable content and have crucial functions in cell-cell communication. The role of extracellular vesicles in cancer is a current hot topic, and no bibliometric study has ever analyzed research production regarding their role in breast cancer and indicated the trends in the field. In this way, we aimed to investigate the trends in breast cancer management involved with extracellular vesicle research. Articles were retrieved from Scopus, including all the documents published concerning breast cancer and extracellular vesicles. We analyzed authors, journals, citations, affiliations, and keywords, besides other bibliometric analyses, using R Studio version 3.6.2. and VOSviewer version 1.6.0. A total of 1151 articles were retrieved, and as the main result, our analysis revealed trending topics on biomarkers of liquid biopsy, drug delivery, chemotherapy, autophagy, and microRNA. Additionally, research related to extracellular vesicles in breast cancer has been focused on diagnosis, treatment, and mechanisms of action of breast tumor-derived vesicles. Future studies are expected to explore the role of extracellular vesicles on autophagy and microRNA, besides investigating the application of extracellular vesicles from liquid biopsies for biomarkers and drug delivery, enabling the development and validation of therapeutic strategies for specific cancers.

Automated summary

This study investigated the trends in breast cancer management related to extracellular vesicle research through bibliometric analysis, revealing a focus on biomarkers, drug delivery, chemotherapy, autophagy, and microRNA. Future research is expected to delve into the roles of extracellular vesicles in autophagy and microRNA, as well as explore their application in liquid biopsy for biomarkers and drug delivery in the development of therapeutic strategies for specific cancers.