Bibliometric mapping and trend analysis of RNA interference-related patient-derived organoid research in colorectal cancer

Abstract

RNA interference-related perturbation and patient-derived organoid models have increasingly appeared as complementary experimental approaches in colorectal cancer research. However, this literature overlaps with CRISPR-based gene editing, noncoding RNA biology, extracellular vesicle studies, spheroid models, metabolic regulation, tumor microenvironment studies, and computational methods, which may obscure the specific RNAi–PDO–CRC intersection. We performed a bibliometric analysis of Web of Science Core Collection records published from 1996 to January 23, 2026. A broad contextual corpus of 619 articles was used for publication-trend analysis, geographic/institutional/journal/author mapping, and broad keyword-network characterization. A strict RNAi–PDO–CRC subcorpus of 132 original articles was analyzed separately to evaluate RNAi–PDO-specific thematic patterns and the specificity of interpretations derived from the broader landscape. Bibliometrix, VOSviewer, CiteSpace, and Excel were used to analyze publication trends, collaboration networks, keyword co-occurrence, burst terms, thematic layers, layer-level hotspot prioritization, and citation-concentration patterns. In the broad contextual corpus, China and the United States contributed the largest numbers of publications, whereas several European countries and institutions showed relatively high betweenness centrality in co-authorship networks. Broad-corpus keyword analyses identified recurrent themes related to WNT/β-catenin signaling, stemness, therapeutic response, organoid-based functional validation, noncoding RNA regulation, extracellular vesicles, metabolism/ferroptosis, epitranscriptomics, immune/TME biology, and computational methods. In the strict 132-article RNAi–PDO–CRC subcorpus, therapeutic-modality and translational-validation terms were broadly represented, whereas several adjacent or emerging themes, including epitranscriptomics and computational methods, were less widely distributed or more citation-concentrated. This study combines contextual bibliometric mapping of a broad RNA-regulatory/3D-model CRC corpus with focused analysis of a strict RNAi–PDO–CRC subcorpus. The broad-corpus findings describe the research environment surrounding RNAi–PDO work, whereas RNAi–PDO-specific interpretations are supported primarily by the strict subcorpus and cross-corpus sensitivity analyses. RNAi–PDO studies are developing within a wider ecosystem of functional genomics, organoid modeling, and translational validation, while direct evidence for mature clinical implementation remains limited.