The Liquid Biopsy Research Landscape
Every PubMed-indexed liquid-biopsy paper from to , by application, analyte, geography, and impact.
How Much, And How Fast
How The Field Has Grown
In-scope publications per year. The current year () is omitted as incomplete.
Data table
What The Field Studies
Clinical Application
Oncology purpose, in care-pathway order: screening, diagnosis, prognosis, therapy selection, treatment-response monitoring, and residual disease. A paper can serve more than one.
Data table
Analyte Platform
Cell-free DNA remains the backbone; circulating RNA, extracellular vesicles, and protein/metabolite platforms have diversified the toolkit.
Data table
What Is Surging
The Frontier Is Vesicle, Protein, And Residual Disease
Annualized growth, , by area. The newer analyte platforms and minimal-residual-disease testing are growing fastest; the original workhorses (CTCs) and prenatal testing have matured.
What Is Used For What
Oncology applications only. The share of each application’s papers that draw on each analyte platform, e.g. what fraction of residual-disease studies use cell-free DNA. Cell-free DNA dominates monitoring and residual-disease work; screening and prognosis lean more on circulating cells and RNA.
How Wide The Net Is Cast
Cancer Breadth
Of oncology studies: one named cancer, two or more named cancers studied together, or a pan-cancer / tissue-agnostic approach.
Non-Oncology Domains
Liquid biopsy beyond cancer. One panel per domain, ordered by current volume; all panels share a single vertical scale, so heights compare directly.
Where The Research Is Led
China Has Overtaken The United States
By corresponding/first-author country, as each country’s share of that year’s output. The data table below is always absolute counts.
Data table
Volume Versus Quality
China Leads On Output; The UK, Netherlands, And Australia On Impact
Each country placed by estimated paper volume (horizontal) and the median field-weighted citation impact of those papers (vertical), which is a fair, age-adjusted quality measure. Above the dashed line is above the world average. Bubble size reflects output.
Influence Versus Volume
Which Areas Punch Above Their Weight
Median field-weighted citation impact (fwci, normalized for field and age). 1.0 = world average for the field; above the line is above-average influence. Small-volume tags rest on fewer papers.
Academia, Industry, And Institutions
Company Involvement
Share of papers with any company-affiliated author, and those company-led. Papers under-represent industry, because firms express themselves through patents and products.
Tool-Building Intensity
Share of the literature whose primary contribution is the assay/method itself. Consistently 38 to 45%, which is a lower bound, because the field keeps building new tools.
Leading Institutions
By in-scope papers, counted by any author affiliation: an institution is credited once per paper it appears on, however many of its campuses or departments are listed. Multi-center papers therefore credit every center.