Top-100 Most-cited Articles on Esophageal Cancer: A Bibliometric Analysis

Background A citation classic is a highly cited work in a field and regarded as an influential contribution to the field’s advancements and literature. Analyzing citation classics and top articles promotes the recognition of research trends within a field. We present the results of the first analysis to identify the 100 most frequently cited research studies on esophageal cancer or esophagogastric junction cancer using the bibliometric analysis method. Method We searched the Web of Science on September 24, 2020. Articles were listed in descending order by the total number of citations, and the top-100 most-cited original articles on esophageal cancer or esophagogastric junction cancer were extracted and evaluated. Results The top-100 citation classics in esophageal cancer were published from 1981 to 2018. A significant increase was found in the number of citation classics from the early 1990s to the late 2000s, which was paralleled by an increase in randomized controlled trials focusing on the clinical treatment of tumors. The medians of the total and annual citations in our analysis were 444.50 (interquartile range [IQR] 346.25-684.50) and 30.08 (IQR 19.10-56.60), respectively. The majority of articles were published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology (n=26), originated in the United States (n=38) and focused on clinical therapies (n=59). The median impact factor of the journals was 27.603 (IQR 9.727-32.956). Conclusion Our analysis provides a historical perspective on the scientific progress of esophageal cancer and contributes to the recognition of important advances in this specialty.

Long-Term Outcomes of Neoadjuvant Chemotherapy in Locally Advanced Gastric Cancer/Esophagogastric Junction Cancer: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Background: Neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC) has been defined as any preoperative chemotherapy scheme aiming to reduce tumor staging and to control preoperative micrometastasis, which has been extensively used as a treatment for resectable gastric cancer. However, its effect on the long-term survival of patients with locally advanced gastric cancer (AGC) or esophagogastric junction cancer (EGC) remains unknown. Objective: This study aimed at investigating the long-term efficacy of NAC in locally AGC/EGC. Methods: The following databases were searched for articles published from their inception up to April 2020: PubMed, Web of Science, EBSCO, and Cochrane library. The primary outcomes were overall survival (OS) and progression-free survival (PFS). Results: A total of 19 articles were included in this meta-analysis, with a total of 4,446 patients. The results showed that NAC increased the patients’ 3-year OS (HR, 0.56; 95%CI, 0.21-0.91; P<0.001), 3-year PFS (HR, 0.76; 95%CI, 0.66-0.87; P<0.001), 5-year OS (HR, 0.71; 95% CI, 0.64-0.78; P<0.001), and 5-year PFS (HR, 0.70; 95% CI, 0.61-0.79; P<0.001) respectively. Besides, subgroup analysis showed that Asian countries have benefited significantly from NAC (HR, 0.65; 95%CI, 0.55-0.74; P<0.001), and other countries have also benefited (HR, 0.79; 95%CI, 0.68-0.89; P<0.001). Conclusions: Compared with adjuvant chemotherapy and surgery alone, NAC can improve the long-term survival outcomes (OS and PFS) of patients with resectable AGC or EGC.