A bibliometric analysis of the role of apoptosis in breast cancer immunotherapy from 1994 to 2024

Abstract Background Apoptosis is a fundamental biological process and a central determinant of therapeutic response in breast cancer (BC). Resistance to immunotherapy is increasingly recognized to be driven, in part, by impaired apoptotic signaling. Despite its importance, no systematic bibliometric evaluation has mapped the global research landscape in this field. Methods This study examined 1425 publications related to apoptosis in breast cancer immunotherapy from 1994 to 2024 using the Web of Science Core Collection database. Data visualization and analysis were conducted using VOSviewer (version 1.6.19), CiteSpace (version 6.2.R3), and the biblioshiny R package. Results The analysis included 81 countries, 2060 institutions, and 9354 researchers across 536 journals. China leads with 552 publications and 16,922 citations, with Sichuan University identified as the most influential institution (n = 33). Cancers has the highest number of publications (n = 39), while Cancer Research has the most co-citations (3725). Wei Zhang is the most prolific author with 9 publications and an H-index of 6, while D. Hanahan has the highest number of co-citations (n = 153). The current research hotspots mainly include “cell death networks”, “177Lu-based radioligand therapy”, “immunotherapeutic strategies”, “resistance mechanisms” and “precision medicine”. Future research emphasizes “integrating multiple cell death mechanisms-based ferroptosis and immunogenic cell death”, “developing advanced nanotechnology-based delivery systems and phototherapy modalities”, and “leveraging AI-driven biomarker discovery and precision medicine approaches”. Conclusions This analysis describes the evolution of apoptosis in BC immunotherapy research patterns and identifies emerging research directions that may inform future precision oncology development.