Abstract:To investigate the global research landscape and emerging trends in cancer pain from 2016 to 2025 using a bibliometric approach, providing insights for mechanistic studies and clinical management. Methods: A total of 2,823 original articles and reviews were retrieved from the Web of Science Core Collection. VOSviewer and CiteSpace were utilized to visualize publication trends, national and institutional collaborations, highly cited papers, as well as keyword co-occurrence and bursts. Results: Annual publication volume has stabilized at approximately 300 papers since 2019. While China led in total publication output (n=824n = 824n=824), the United States remained the most influential regarding total citations (15,616) and central collaborative roles. Highly cited studies primarily addressed epidemiology and clinical guidelines. Keyword network analysis identified five major domains: bone cancer pain mechanisms, clinical management barriers, opioid safety, palliative care, and quality-of-life assessment. Temporal analysis revealed a paradigm shift from broad symptom evaluation to the targeted management of refractory pain, with "traditional Chinese medicine" emerging as the strongest keyword burst between 2023 and 2025. Conclusion: Cancer pain research is increasingly focusing on neurobiological mechanisms and multimodal interventions. Although China contributes significantly to the global publication volume, high-quality, evidence-based studies are still warranted. Integrative medicine demonstrates considerable translational potential, highlighting the need for robust multicenter clinical trials to bridge the current evidence-to-practice gap.
