Melanoma is a form of skin cancer that originates in the
pigment-producing melanocytes. According to the National Cancer
Institute, over 53,600 people are diagnosed with melanoma in the US
annually. This month, Special Topics examines the research trends for
melanoma over the past decade as well as over the past two years.
The research on melanoma over the past decade encompasses a broad
range of topics. Primary among these topics are gene expression, both
to classify and understand the underlying mechanisms of melanoma, and
treatment. Among the hot gene-related topics on our list are the Fas
ligand, MAGE, BAGE, and GAGE. Treatment options that have been
explored over the past decade include vaccination with dendritic cells
or synthetic peptides, and adjuvant therapy with interferon α2ß.
The value of regional lymph node dissection is also addressed. Other
papers explore the role of T-cells, various tumor-associated antigens,
epitopes, p53 mutations, and TNF cytokines.
Similar themes have been explored over the past two years, with a
deeper exploration of the mechanisms of growth, invasion, and
metastases in melanoma. The role of BRAF, ERK, and Ras are examined,
as well as that of cytotoxic T-lymphocyte-associated antigens.
Vaccination with peptides is particularly emphasized, as is the use of
granulocyte macrophage colony stimulating factor in these
vaccinations. Other topics visited over the past two years include
follow-up strategies for patients, tumor lymphangiogenesis, apoptosis,
and chemoresistance.
Methodology
To construct this database,
papers were extracted based on title-supplied keywords for Melanoma. The keywords used were as follows:
melanoma*
The baseline time span for this database
is 1995-2005 (second bimonthly). The resulting database contained 10,638
(10 years)
and 2,663 (2 years) papers;
29,256 authors; 81 countries; 1,112 journals; and 4,865 institutions.
Rankings
Once the database was in place,
it was used to generate the lists of top 20 papers (two- and ten-year
periods), authors, journals,
institutions, and nations, covering a time span of 1995-2005 (second bimonthly,
a ten-year plus four-month period).
The top 20 papers are ranked
according to total cites. Rankings for author, journal, institution,
and country are listed in three ways: according to total cites, total
papers, and total cites/paper. The paper thresholds and corresponding
percentages used to determine
scientist, institution, country, and journal rankings according to
total cites/paper, and total papers respectively are as follows:
| Entity: |
Scientists |
Institutions |
Countries |
Journals |
| Thresholds: |
15 |
65 |
15 |
19 |
| Percentage: |
1% |
1% |
50% |
10% |
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