Emerging research themes in macrophage-associated research for esophageal cancer: a bibliometric and visualized analysis

Tumor-associated macrophages (TAMs) are key regulators of the esophageal cancer microenvironment and are increasingly implicated in immune suppression, invasion, and therapeutic resistance. As immunotherapy and high-dimensional profiling expand, a quantitative synthesis of the field is needed to clarify research hotspots, and emerging directions.