The 100 most-cited articles in castration-resistant prostate cancer: a bibliometric analysis

Purpose: To assess the present landscape and future research directions, a bibliometric analysis was performed to identify the characteristics of the 100 most-cited articles (T100 articles) on CRPC research. Methods: A list of the T100 articles investigating CRPC was generated by searching the Web of Science (WoS) Core Collection database. Different characteristics of the T100 articles, including the countries/territories, journals, authors, and research areas, were analyzed. Results: The number of citations of T100 articles published between 1992 and 2017 ranged from 282 to 3594, with an average of 654.9 citations. According to the topic of the article, “Mechanisms related to tumor progression or metastasis” ranked first with 41 T100 articles, while immunotherapy ranked fourth with 7 T100 articles. The T100 articles originated from 31 countries, with more than half originating from the USA (n = 89). Professor Scher HI published the most T100 articles as the first author (4) and as the corresponding author (5), while Pro De Bono JS from the Institute of Cancer Research published 3 articles as the first author and 8 articles as the corresponding author. The journal Cancer Research published 20 T100 articles with a total of 8946 citations. The number of T100 articles (r = 0.485, P = 0.01) and the total number of citations (r = 0.626, P < 0.001) were all positively correlated with the IF of the journal. Conclusions: This analysis offers a historical perspective on the progress and attempts to reveal future trends in CRPC research using bibliometric analysis. This study’s results suggest that immunotherapy and the study of androgen receptors as well as their signaling axes will possibly be hot topics and trends in CRPC research

HO-1 attenuates testicular ischaemia/reperfusion injury by activating the phosphorylated C-jun-miR-221/222-TOX pathway

Aims: Heme oxygenase (HO-1) affords protection against ischaemia/reperfusion (I/R) injury; however, its effects on testicular I/R injury remain poorly explored. Herein, we aimed to examine the effects of HO-1 on testicular I/R injury and elucidate the underlying mechanism. Methods: Using the TALEN technique, we knocked out the HO-1 gene from rats. In vivo: Thirty hmox+/+ and 30 hmox−/− rats were randomly assigned to six groups: sham-operated (sham), I/R (the left testicle torsion/detorsion) 0 d,I/R 1d, I/R 3d, I/R 7d and I/R 28d. In vitro: GC-1 were suffered from: control,H/R (oxygen-deprivation/reoxygenation),H/R + HO-1 siRNA,H/R + c-Jun siRNA or H/R + HO-1 siRNA + c-jun.We performed immunofluorescence and immunohistochemistry experiments to detect HO-1 nuclear translocation. Flow cytometry was used to detect cell apoptosis and analyse the cell cycle. High-resolution miRNA, mRNA sequencing, reverse transcription-quantitative PCR, and western blotting were performed to identify testicular I/R injury-related genes strongly conserved in HO-1 knockout rats. A double luciferase reporter assay was performed to verify the relationship between C-jun and miR-221/222. Main findings: In vivo, HO-1 improved the pathological damage induced by testicular I/R. In GC-1 cells, we confirmed the nuclear translocation of HO-1 and its protective effect against hypoxia/reoxygenation (H/R) damage. Accordingly, HO-1 protein itself, rather than heme metabolites, might play a key role in testicular I/R. Gene sequencing was performed to screen for miR221/222 and its downstream gene, thymocyte selection-associated high mobility group box (TOX). HO-1 increased c-Jun phosphorylation in the H/R group, knocked down c-Jun in GC-1 cells, and decreased miR-221/222 expression. Inhibition of HO-1 expression decreased the expression of c-Jun and miR-221/222, which was rescued by adding c-Jun. Dual-luciferase reporter assay confirmed the interaction between c-Jun and miR-221/222. Conclusions: HO-1 could exert a protective effect against testicular I/R via the phosphorylated c-Jun-miR-221/222-TOX pathway

Bibliometric analysis of the 100 top-cited articles on immunotherapy of urological cancer

Purpose To highlight the scientific progress in immunotherapy of urological cancer by identifying and analyzing the 100 top-cited (T100) articles from the last 15 years. Methods Papers in immunotherapy of urological cancer were identified from Clarivate Web of Science Core Collection database. Data of the T100 articles and papers published in recent 2 years, including citations, topic, year of publication, country of origin, institution and authorship, were extracted and analyzed. Results Of the T100 articles, the citation number ranged from 7387 to 183 with a mean of 590.66. The USA led the field with 80 T100 articles and 53097 citations. Pro Sharma P from MD Anderson Cancer Center was at the top of list with 8 T100 articles (3 as first author and 6 as corresponding author). Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center ranked first with 26 T100 articles and 22573 citations, followed by Johns Hopkins University with 21 T100 articles and 25095 citations. Forty-nine T100 articles were related to the renal cancer, followed by prostate cancer (29), bladder cancer (13) and urothelial cancer (13). According to the type of immunotherapy, most T100 articles were related to ICI (55 articles) and vaccine (19 articles). Conclusions It is the first bibliometric analysis to identify the T100 articles on immunotherapy of urological cancer. The USA made great contribution in the field of immunotherapy related to urological cancer. Renal, bladder and prostate cancers were the major organs treated by immunotherapy especially by ICIs and vaccines. The multiple aspects of ICIs research in renal and bladder cancer and the neoantigen-based vaccine therapy will be hotspots for future research