{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,29]],"date-time":"2026-09-29T06:05:09Z","timestamp":1790661909051,"version":"4.1.0"},"reference-count":46,"publisher":"Frontiers Media SA","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,29]],"date-time":"2026-09-29T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1790640000000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["frontiersin.org"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Front. Pharmacol."],"abstract":"<jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Background<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>Cancer microphysiological systems (MPS), including tumor-on-chip platforms, combine engineered microenvironments, controlled fluid transport, and tumor-relevant biological models for cancer modeling, drug testing, and translational research. Organoid-integrated chips represent one developing component within this broader field, but the publication growth, knowledge structure, and changing research priorities of cancer MPS and tumor-on-chip research have not been systematically mapped across major bibliographic databases.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Methods<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>We performed a dual-database bibliometric analysis of publications indexed in the Web of Science Core Collection and Scopus from 2010 to 2025. Bibliometric indicators were analyzed using Bibliometrix, VOSviewer, and CiteSpace. We examined publication growth, source distribution, author and country collaboration, highly cited and co-cited references, and temporal keyword evolution. In addition, a phase-split keyword analysis was conducted to compare the research emphasis during 2010\u20132020 and 2021\u20132025.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Results<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>A total of 476 publications were included in the final cancer MPS\/tumor-on-chip corpus. Research output increased markedly after 2020 and reached 101 articles in 2025. Source, co-citation, and keyword analyses suggested a progressive shift from early emphasis on microfluidic device construction and physical culture control toward greater attention to biofabrication, tumor microenvironment reconstruction, immune-related interactions, and drug-screening and other application-oriented themes. Phase-split keyword analysis showed that recent publications placed greater attention on biological applications and translational questions while retaining a clear connection with earlier engineering-oriented research. The United States and China emerged as the major research hubs, although with different collaboration profiles.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Conclusion<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>This study provides a dual-database bibliometric analysis of cancer microphysiological systems and tumor-on-chip research from 2010 to 2025. The field has expanded from microfluidic engineering and basic tumor reconstruction toward tumor microenvironment modeling, multicellular interactions, drug-related applications, and organoid integration. These trends indicate growing translational interest, although the biological performance and clinical utility of individual platforms require direct experimental evaluation.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.3389\/fphar.2026.1926341","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,29]],"date-time":"2026-09-29T05:49:56Z","timestamp":1790660996000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/crossmark-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Tumor-on-chip and cancer microphysiological platforms: knowledge structure, thematic evolution, and the emergence of organoid-integrated models, 2010\u20132025"],"prefix":"10.3389","volume":"17","author":[{"given":"Huichuan","family":"Tian","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Emergency, Xi\u2019an Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine","place":["Xi\u2019an, China"]},{"name":"Faculty of Chinese Medicine, Macau University of Science and Technology","place":["Taipa, Macao SAR, China"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Guanlu","family":"Li","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Faculty of Chinese Medicine, Macau University of Science and Technology","place":["Taipa, Macao SAR, China"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Yuheng","family":"Lian","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Faculty of Chinese Medicine, Macau University of Science and Technology","place":["Taipa, Macao SAR, China"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Huihui","family":"Liu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Emergency, Xi\u2019an Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine","place":["Xi\u2019an, China"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Yunda","family":"Fang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Health Preservation and Rehabilitation, Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine","place":["Nanjing, China"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Yao","family":"Tong","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Anorectal Surgery, Xuzhou Hospital of Chinese Medicine Affiliated to Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine","place":["Xuzhou, Jiangsu, China"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Ziyi","family":"He","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Emergency, Xi\u2019an Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine","place":["Xi\u2019an, China"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Yaoyao","family":"Bian","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Health Preservation and Rehabilitation, Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine","place":["Nanjing, China"]},{"name":"Jiangsu Provincial Engineering Research Center of TCM External Medication Development and Application, Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine","place":["Nanjing, China"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Gang","family":"Wei","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Emergency, Xi\u2019an Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine","place":["Xi\u2019an, China"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1965","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,29]]},"reference":[{"key":"B46","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"2718","DOI":"10.1038\/ncomms3718","article-title":"Tumour-on-a-chip provides an optical window into nanoparticle tissue transport","volume":"4","author":"Albanese","year":"2013","journal-title":"Nature Communications"},{"key":"B1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"3086","DOI":"10.1038\/s41467-022-30384-7","article-title":"A role for microfluidic systems in precision medicine","volume":"13","author":"Ayuso","year":"2022","journal-title":"Nat. Communications"},{"key":"B2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"2454","DOI":"10.1016\/j.biomaterials.2013.11.050","article-title":"A microfluidic 3D in vitro model for specificity of breast cancer metastasis to bone","volume":"35","author":"Bersini","year":"2014","journal-title":"Biomaterials"},{"key":"B3","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"760","DOI":"10.1038\/nbt.2989","article-title":"Microfluidic organs-on-chips","volume":"32","author":"Bhatia","year":"2014","journal-title":"Nat. Biotechnology"},{"key":"B4","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"229","DOI":"10.3322\/caac.21834","article-title":"Global cancer statistics 2022: GLOBOCAN estimates of incidence and mortality worldwide for 36 cancers in 185 countries","volume":"74","author":"Bray","year":"2024","journal-title":"CA A Cancer Journal Clinicians"},{"key":"B5","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"e70603","DOI":"10.1002\/mco2.70603","article-title":"Organ-on-a-Chip technology and global Multi-Omics: current applications and future directions","volume":"7","author":"Cao","year":"2026","journal-title":"MedComm"},{"key":"B6","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"169","DOI":"10.20892\/j.issn.2095-3941.2025.0541","article-title":"Applying microfluidic technology to interpret the tumor immune microenvironment and cancer immunotherapy","volume":"23","author":"Chen","year":"2026","journal-title":"Cancer Biology & Medicine"},{"key":"B7","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"689","DOI":"10.1186\/s12885-023-11078-9","article-title":"Patient-derived organoids for precision oncology: a platform to facilitate clinical decision making","volume":"23","author":"Chitrangi","year":"2023","journal-title":"BMC Cancer"},{"key":"B8","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"18","DOI":"10.1038\/s41698-020-0121-2","article-title":"3D bioprinting for reconstituting the cancer microenvironment","volume":"4","author":"Datta","year":"2020","journal-title":"NPJ Precision Oncology"},{"key":"B9","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"178","DOI":"10.1002\/cac2.12627","article-title":"Cancer situation in China: an analysis based on the global epidemiological data released in 2024","volume":"45","author":"Diao","year":"2025","journal-title":"Cancer Communications Lond. Engl."},{"key":"B10","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"407","DOI":"10.1038\/s41568-018-0007-6","article-title":"Organoids in cancer research","volume":"18","author":"Drost","year":"2018","journal-title":"Nat. Rev. Cancer"},{"key":"B11","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"207","DOI":"10.1089\/adt.2014.573","article-title":"Three-dimensional cell culture systems and their applications in drug discovery and cell-based biosensors","volume":"12","author":"Edmondson","year":"2014","journal-title":"Assay Drug Development Technologies"},{"key":"B12","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"246","DOI":"10.1038\/ncb3312","article-title":"Organoids as an in vitro model of human development and disease","volume":"18","author":"Fatehullah","year":"2016","journal-title":"Nat. Cell Biology"},{"key":"B13","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"152","DOI":"10.3390\/mi13020152","article-title":"Application of microfluidic systems for breast cancer research","volume":"13","author":"Frankman","year":"2022","journal-title":"Micromachines"},{"key":"B14","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"935","DOI":"10.3390\/cancers14040935","article-title":"Organ-on-a-Chip platforms for drug screening and delivery in tumor cells: a systematic review","volume":"14","author":"Gon\u00e7alves","year":"2022","journal-title":"Cancers"},{"key":"B15","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"874","DOI":"10.3390\/cancers13040874","article-title":"Organoid and spheroid tumor models: techniques and applications","volume":"13","author":"Gunti","year":"2021","journal-title":"Cancers"},{"key":"B16","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"646","DOI":"10.1016\/j.cell.2011.02.013","article-title":"Hallmarks of cancer: the next generation","volume":"144","author":"Hanahan","year":"2011","journal-title":"Cell"},{"key":"B17","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1150332","DOI":"10.3389\/fonc.2023.1150332","article-title":"Recent advances in vascularized tumor-on-a-chip","volume":"13","author":"Huang","year":"2023","journal-title":"Front. Oncology"},{"key":"B18","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1662","DOI":"10.1126\/science.1188302","article-title":"Reconstituting organ-level lung functions on a chip","volume":"328","author":"Huh","year":"2010","journal-title":"Sci. (New York, N.Y.)"},{"key":"B19","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"33","DOI":"10.3389\/fmolb.2020.00033","article-title":"Is it time to start transitioning from 2D to 3D cell culture?","volume":"7","author":"Jensen","year":"2020","journal-title":"Front. Molecular Biosciences"},{"key":"B20","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"214","DOI":"10.1073\/pnas.1417115112","article-title":"Human 3D vascularized organotypic microfluidic assays to study breast cancer cell extravasation","volume":"112","author":"Jeon","year":"2015","journal-title":"Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U. S. A."},{"key":"B21","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"e0159013","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pone.0159013","article-title":"Co-Culture of tumor spheroids and fibroblasts in a collagen matrix-incorporated microfluidic chip mimics reciprocal activation in solid tumor microenvironment","volume":"11","author":"Jeong","year":"2016","journal-title":"PloS One"},{"key":"B22","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"546","DOI":"10.1016\/j.stem.2026.03.005","article-title":"Reconstructing tumor tissues in 3D: from organoids to bioengineered niches","volume":"33","author":"Kast","year":"2026","journal-title":"Cell Stem Cell"},{"key":"B23","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"e2102581","DOI":"10.1002\/adhm.202102581","article-title":"Vascularized lung cancer model for evaluating the promoted transport of anticancer drugs and immune cells in an engineered tumor microenvironment","volume":"11","author":"Kim","year":"2022","journal-title":"Adv. Healthcare Materials"},{"key":"B24","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"12","DOI":"10.1186\/s40580-021-00261-y","article-title":"Microvascularized tumor organoids-on-chips: advancing preclinical drug screening with pathophysiological relevance","volume":"8","author":"Lim","year":"2021","journal-title":"Nano Convergence"},{"key":"B25","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"024002","DOI":"10.1088\/1361-6528\/aae7de","article-title":"Modeling organ-specific vasculature with organ-on-a-chip devices","volume":"30","author":"Lin","year":"2019","journal-title":"Nanotechnology"},{"key":"B26","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"50","DOI":"10.1038\/s41378-021-00277-8","article-title":"Tumor-on-a-chip: from bioinspired design to biomedical application","volume":"7","author":"Liu","year":"2021","journal-title":"Microsystems & Nanoengineering"},{"key":"B27","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"119547","DOI":"10.1016\/j.biomaterials.2019.119547","article-title":"Vascularized cancer on a chip: the effect of perfusion on growth and drug delivery of tumor spheroid","volume":"229","author":"Nashimoto","year":"2020","journal-title":"Biomaterials"},{"key":"B28","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"103","DOI":"10.2174\/187220809788700201","article-title":"Three-dimensional tissue models for drug discovery and toxicology","volume":"3","author":"Pampaloni","year":"2009","journal-title":"Recent Patents Biotechnology"},{"key":"B29","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"960","DOI":"10.1126\/science.aaw7894","article-title":"Organoids-on-a-chip","volume":"364","author":"Park","year":"2019","journal-title":"Science"},{"key":"B30","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"3171","DOI":"10.1038\/s41598-018-21075-9","article-title":"A microvascularized tumor-mimetic platform for assessing anti-cancer drug efficacy","volume":"8","author":"Pradhan","year":"2018","journal-title":"Sci. Reports"},{"key":"B31","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"249","DOI":"10.1016\/j.trecan.2020.10.009","article-title":"3D in vitro model (R)evolution: unveiling tumor-stroma interactions","volume":"7","author":"Rodrigues","year":"2021","journal-title":"Trends Cancer"},{"key":"B32","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1658","DOI":"10.1039\/c9lc00811j","article-title":"A microfluidic platform for functional testing of cancer drugs on intact tumor slices","volume":"20","author":"Rodriguez","year":"2020","journal-title":"Lab a Chip"},{"key":"B33","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"840","DOI":"10.3390\/ijms20040840","article-title":"Targeting Tumor microenvironment for cancer therapy","volume":"20","author":"Roma-Rodrigues","year":"2019","journal-title":"Int. J. Mol. Sci."},{"key":"B34","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"155","DOI":"10.3390\/bios16030155","article-title":"Organs-on-Chips in drug development: engineering foundations, artificial intelligence, and clinical translation","volume":"16","author":"Roy","year":"2026","journal-title":"Biosensors"},{"key":"B35","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"3687","DOI":"10.1039\/c8lc00596f","article-title":"Tumor-on-a-chip platform to investigate progression and drug sensitivity in cell lines and patient-derived organoids","volume":"18","author":"Shirure","year":"2018","journal-title":"Lab a Chip"},{"key":"B36","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"31589","DOI":"10.1038\/srep31589","article-title":"3D microtumors in vitro supported by perfused vascular networks","volume":"6","author":"Sobrino","year":"2016","journal-title":"Sci. Reports"},{"key":"B37","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"65","DOI":"10.1038\/s41568-018-0104-6","article-title":"Modelling cancer in microfluidic human organs-on-chips","volume":"19","author":"Sontheimer-Phelps","year":"2019","journal-title":"Nat. Reviews. Cancer"},{"key":"B38","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1351","DOI":"10.1016\/j.medj.2024.08.010","article-title":"Patient-derived organoids in precision cancer medicine","volume":"5","author":"Tong","year":"2024","journal-title":"Med. (New York, N.Y.)"},{"key":"B39","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"2945","DOI":"10.3390\/ma12182945","article-title":"The Tumor-on-Chip: recent advances in the development of microfluidic systems to recapitulate the physiology of solid tumors","volume":"12","author":"Trujillo-de Santiago","year":"2019","journal-title":"Mater."},{"key":"B40","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"20170137","DOI":"10.1098\/rsif.2017.0137","article-title":"Tumour-on-a-chip: microfluidic models of tumour morphology, growth and microenvironment","volume":"14","author":"Tsai","year":"2017","journal-title":"J. R. Soc. Interface"},{"key":"B41","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"952","DOI":"10.1126\/science.aaw6985","article-title":"Cancer modeling meets human organoid technology","volume":"364","author":"Tuveson","year":"2019","journal-title":"Sci. (New York, N.Y.)"},{"key":"B42","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1057913","DOI":"10.3389\/fbioe.2022.1057913","article-title":"Tumor-on-a-chip: perfusable vascular incorporation brings new approach to tumor metastasis research and drug development","volume":"10","author":"Wang","year":"2022","journal-title":"Front. Bioengineering Biotechnology"},{"key":"B43","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"6052","DOI":"10.3390\/cancers13236052","article-title":"Going with the flow: modeling the tumor microenvironment using microfluidic technology","volume":"13","author":"Xie","year":"2021","journal-title":"Cancers"},{"key":"B44","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"509","DOI":"10.1038\/s41551-019-0363-x","article-title":"A bioprinted human-glioblastoma-on-a-chip for the identification of patient-specific responses to chemoradiotherapy","volume":"3","author":"Yi","year":"2019","journal-title":"Nat. Biomedical Engineering"},{"key":"B45","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"13515","DOI":"10.1073\/pnas.1210182109","article-title":"Three-dimensional microfluidic model for tumor cell intravasation and endothelial barrier function","volume":"109","author":"Zervantonakis","year":"2012","journal-title":"Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U. S. A."}],"container-title":["Frontiers in Pharmacology"],"original-title":[],"link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/www.frontiersin.org\/articles\/10.3389\/fphar.2026.1926341\/full","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,29]],"date-time":"2026-09-29T05:49:57Z","timestamp":1790660997000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/www.frontiersin.org\/articles\/10.3389\/fphar.2026.1926341\/full"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,29]]},"references-count":46,"alternative-id":["10.3389\/fphar.2026.1926341"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/fphar.2026.1926341","relation":{},"ISSN":["1663-9812"],"issn-type":[{"value":"1663-9812","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,29]]},"article-number":"1926341"}}