Mapping the landscape of Chinese patent medicines in breast cancer: a multi-database bibliometric analysis (1991-2025).

purposeBreast cancer imposes a significant healthcare burden. Chinese patent medicines (CPMs) are widely used as complementary therapy in cancer care. This study is aimed at comprehensively reviewing the application of CPMs, identifying research hotspots, and identifying CPMs that are promising candidates for further clinical evaluation in breast cancer.

methodsWe searched Web of Science, PubMed, CNKI, WanFang, and CQVIP databases. Data were preprocessed using Co-Occurrence 20.5 and analyzed with CiteSpace and R software.

resultsA total of 1847 publications were included, with annual growth concentrated in mainland China. Among the top ten CPMs with the highest volume of research, most had received recommendations from at least one guideline, though recommendations sometimes diverged from package inserts, which often lacked explicit tumor indications. Compared with studies in Chinese databases, research in English databases tended to focus more on CPMs that were prepared or purified from only one or two herbals, with clearly identified primary active ingredients and botanical origins. Research in this field primarily focused on the tumor microenvironment and on reducing toxicity while enhancing efficacy in conventional antitumor therapies, which represented key trends for future studies. Currently, herbal polysaccharides appear to be gaining attention and academic influence within the field.

conclusionsThere is a discrepancy between the actual clinical application of CPMs and their usage standards. It is necessary to improve their scientific and standardization development by clarifying drug mechanisms and value, which requires high-quality evidence. In the future, more cross-regional and multiethnic studies should be conducted to validate their universal applicability and safety, which are topics that require further investigation before any broader use can be considered.