Research status and trend of lung cancer ablation therapy: a bibliometric analysis from 2002 to 2025

Background: Lung cancer ablation treatment is to insert an antenna into the tumor under imaging guidance, resulting in tumor coagulation necrosis through extreme energy changes. It is one of the main local treatments for lung cancer and has become a prominent research area in recent years. The objective of this bibliometric study is to introduce research trends in lung cancer ablation therapy. Methods: Publications on ablative treatment for lung cancer are downloaded from the Web of Science core collection. This analysis includes 919 original English-language articles published between 2002 and 2025. VOSviewer, CiteSpace, and R software are employed to visualize the collected data. Results: In total, 919 original articles were examined. The number of publications is increasing year by year. China ranks first by publication volume. The United States leads in total citations and breadth of international collaboration. The document "Pulmonary radiofrequency ablation: long-term safety and efficacy in 153 patients", published by Simon in 2007, is the most influential paper (447 citations). This study demonstrates that radiofrequency ablation (RFA) provides favorable tumor control rates and long-term survival outcomes, particularly for lung tumors smaller than 3 cm. RFA is the most prominent research area. Microwave ablation (MWA) and pulmonary nodules have been research hotspots since 2019. Percutaneous cryoablation has gained significant attention since 2023. Conclusions: This bibliometric study provides a comprehensive and quantitative analysis and summary of research in lung cancer ablation, offering researchers insights into the research history, current hotspots, and future directions, aiming at advancing the development of lung cancer ablation therapy.