image: Characteristics of research on FAP: analysis of top units, authors, and studies. Cumulative increase in number of articles per research center over time (A). The journal classification is based on Bradford's Law. The height of the ridges represents the number of publications, while the depth of the ridge color indicates the number of citations. Journal of Nuclear Medicine (JNM) saw a peak in citations from 2019 to 2020, and European Journal of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging (EJNMMI) experienced a peak from 2021 to 2022. The number of publications for EJNMMI reached a high of 122 in 2023, for Clinical Nuclear Medicine (CNM) it peaked at 90 in 2022, and for JNM it peaked at 83 in 2023 (B). Number of publications, citations, and H-index of the relevant authors (C). Citations of related literature (D)
Credit: Dan Ruan, Simin Wu, Xuehua Lin, Liang Zhao, Jiayu Cai, Weizhi Xu, Yizhen Pang, Qiang Xie, Xiaobo Qu, Haojun Chen
Key Findings:
Increased Research Activity: A significant surge in FAP-related publications was observed starting in 2019, with China, the USA, and Germany leading in productivity and international collaboration.
Prominent Institutions and Journals: Southwest Medical University and Xiamen University were among the most productive institutions, while the European Journal of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging (EJNMMI) and Journal of Nuclear Medicine (JNM) were the most influential journals.
Pioneering Researchers: Haberkorn Uwe, Chen Yue, and Chen Haojun were among the most influential authors, contributing significantly to FAP research and FAPI tracer development.
Shift in Research Focus: The research focus has transitioned from FAP expression and its role in cancer progression to the development and clinical evaluation of FAPI-based radiotracers for PET imaging and targeted radionuclide therapy.
Diverse Applications: FAPI-based radiotracers have shown promising results in diagnosing various cancers, particularly gastrointestinal malignancies, and have potential applications in inflammatory and autoimmune diseases.
Comparison with FDG: FAPI-based radiotracers demonstrate higher tumor uptake and diagnostic accuracy than 18F-FDG in certain cancers, but may be less effective in others like lymphomas and multiple myeloma.
Challenges and Future Directions: Despite the promising results, challenges such as FAP expression heterogeneity and the need for improved radiotracers remain. Future research should focus on addressing these limitations and exploring the potential of FAP-targeted radionuclide therapy in treating refractory cancers.
Significance:
This study provides a comprehensive overview of the current state and future directions of FAP-directed cancer theranostics. It highlights the potential of FAPI-based radiotracers in improving cancer diagnosis and treatment and emphasizes the need for further research to overcome existing challenges and fully exploit the therapeutic potential of FAP.
The work entitled “Current status of FAP-directed cancer theranostics: a bibliometric analysis”was published on Biophysics Reports (published on December, 2024).
Journal
Biophysics Reports
Method of Research
Experimental study
Subject of Research
Not applicable
Article Title
Current status of FAP-directed cancer theranostics: a bibliometric analysis
Article Publication Date
31-Dec-2024