Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the most frequent primary histological type of liver malignancy that develops in the background of chronic liver. According to a recent epidemiologic estimation, HCC is ranked seventh among cancer incidences and the fourth leading cause of death caused by cancer in the world with a higher incidence rate in developing countries. Scientometrics is the quantitative analysis of scientific methods and findings, scientific communication, and science policy. As a scientific study, it seeks to review the literature in a particular field and detect how various topics are connected. This study aims to presents a scientometric review of the HCC literature. The findings can be used to control the problems created by the HCC in the global social network.

The present study was conducted as a descriptive survey using scientometric analysis. The bibliographic data were collected from the web of science (WoS) database to identify the core of documents including the research topics relevant to this field.

In the past decades, a large bulk of studies have addressed HCC with various methods. Thus, this study reviewed HCC-related literature to identify collaborative networks and main academic communities. The results indicated that in the first decade, HBV and related topics including HBS Ag, and hepatocytes had the highest centrality and density associated with HCC. In the second decade, there was a shift from these topics to HBV-induced cirrhosis, HCV, and host cellular immune response. Finally, the studies conducted in the last decade have focused mainly on the impact of virus genotypes and personalized epigenetics. The preeminence of the basic or pre-clinical studies compared to the clinical investigations in recent decades, and the unsatisfactory survival of HCC patients highlight the need for conducting more potential preclinical and clinical studies to find new opportunities for the treatment of HCC.

The findings of the current study revealed how the main research themes and trends in the HCC literature have developed over time. The data also indicated how researchers reacted to different milestones in the evolution of HCC. The insights from this review study can be used to find out the most effective treatment methods with the lowest prescribed dose and the greatest therapeutic effects.