Publishing trends

Every object in Nuclide has a literature query. Once a week we ask Europe PMC how many papers matched it in each year and in the last twelve months, then rank topics by how fast they are growing. This is the pulse of research effort, not of results: a surge in papers is a surge in attention.

Snapshot: 2026-10-20Objects tracked: 256Source: Europe PMC REST APIRefreshed weekly by GitHub Actions

Rising fastest, all kinds

Papers in the last 12 months against the 12 months before, for topics with at least 20 prior papers so a small base cannot fake a surge.

#	Topic	Kind	Last 12 mo	Prior 12 mo	Change
1	FAP-2286 (177Lu / 68Ga)	drug	44	20	+120%
2	DLL3	target	164	81	+102%
3	Quantitative SPECT	technology	52	26	+100%
4	TROP2	target	320	165	+94%
5	Claudin-18.2	target	300	176	+70%
6	Site-specific conjugation & linker chemistry	technology	175	103	+70%
7	STEAP1	target	33	20	+65%
8	Nectin-4	target	218	140	+56%
9	High-risk neuroblastoma	indication	240	155	+55%
10	Folate receptor alpha	target	133	86	+55%
11	B7-H3	target	364	240	+52%
12	Glypican-3	target	232	153	+52%
13	Quantitative imaging biomarkers (RECIST, PERCIST, SUV, ADC)	technology	847	569	+49%
14	Parkinsonian syndromes	indication	103	70	+47%
15	Mesothelin (MSLN)	target	183	125	+46%
16	Radiolabelling quality control	technology	29	20	+45%
17	Monte Carlo dosimetry	technology	462	321	+44%
18	Norepinephrine transporter (NET)	target	6,670	4,640	+44%
19	Integrin αvβ3	target	87	62	+40%
20	FAPI PET	technology	270	193	+40%
21	CEACAM5	target	72	53	+36%
22	Somatostatin receptor 2	target	127	94	+35%
23	Pretargeted radioimmunotherapy	technology	33	25	+32%
24	PSMA PET	technology	661	503	+31%
25	DLG4 (PSD-95)	target	152	117	+30%
26	Radioligand therapy (beta emitters)	technology	843	652	+29%
27	Gallium-68 pentixafor	drug	27	21	+29%
28	Enzalutamide	drug	469	366	+28%
29	FAP	target	809	644	+26%
30	Cabazitaxel	drug	90	72	+25%

Technologies

#	Topic	Kind	Last 12 mo	Prior 12 mo	Change
1	Site-specific conjugation & linker chemistry	technology	175	103	+70%
2	Quantitative imaging biomarkers (RECIST, PERCIST, SUV, ADC)	technology	847	569	+49%
3	Monte Carlo dosimetry	technology	462	321	+44%
4	FAPI PET	technology	270	193	+40%
5	PSMA PET	technology	661	503	+31%
6	Radioligand therapy (beta emitters)	technology	843	652	+29%
7	Lutetium-177 radioligand therapy	technology	489	395	+24%
8	SPECT/CT	technology	627	520	+21%
9	PET/MRI	technology	356	296	+20%
10	DOTA chelation	technology	426	360	+18%
11	Radio-antibody & radio-ADC	technology	168	143	+17%
12	Immuno-PET	technology	115	98	+17%
13	PET/CT	technology	4,980	4,283	+16%
14	Radiomics	technology	3,362	2,899	+16%
15	FDG PET	technology	2,620	2,298	+14%

Products

#	Topic	Kind	Last 12 mo	Prior 12 mo	Change
1	FAP-2286 (177Lu / 68Ga)	drug	44	20	+120%
2	Gallium-68 pentixafor	drug	27	21	+29%
3	Enzalutamide	drug	469	366	+28%
4	Cabazitaxel	drug	90	72	+25%
5	Cabozantinib	drug	273	222	+23%
6	Durvalumab	drug	664	549	+21%
7	Pembrolizumab	drug	2,177	1,819	+20%
8	Lutetium-177 dotatate	drug	68	58	+17%
9	Olaparib	drug	590	506	+17%
10	Lutetium-177 vipivotide tetraxetan	drug	66	58	+14%
11	Rituximab	drug	1,776	1,567	+13%
12	Fludeoxyglucose F-18 (brain metabolism)	drug	1,041	920	+13%
13	Fludeoxyglucose F-18 (FDG)	drug	3,191	2,825	+13%
14	Radioactive iodine (I-131)	drug	503	452	+11%
15	Technetium Tc-99m sestamibi	drug	187	171	+9%

Targets

#	Topic	Kind	Last 12 mo	Prior 12 mo	Change
1	DLL3	target	164	81	+102%
2	TROP2	target	320	165	+94%
3	Claudin-18.2	target	300	176	+70%
4	STEAP1	target	33	20	+65%
5	Nectin-4	target	218	140	+56%
6	Folate receptor alpha	target	133	86	+55%
7	B7-H3	target	364	240	+52%
8	Glypican-3	target	232	153	+52%
9	Mesothelin (MSLN)	target	183	125	+46%
10	Norepinephrine transporter (NET)	target	6,670	4,640	+44%
11	Integrin αvβ3	target	87	62	+40%
12	CEACAM5	target	72	53	+36%
13	Somatostatin receptor 2	target	127	94	+35%
14	DLG4 (PSD-95)	target	152	117	+30%
15	FAP	target	809	644	+26%

Indications

#	Topic	Kind	Last 12 mo	Prior 12 mo	Change
1	High-risk neuroblastoma	indication	240	155	+55%
2	Neuroendocrine and small-cell prostate cancer	indication	121	100	+21%
3	Metastatic hormone-sensitive prostate cancer	indication	355	303	+17%
4	Cardiac amyloidosis (transthyretin, ATTR-CM)	indication	555	478	+16%
5	Neuroendocrine tumours	indication	189	166	+14%
6	Neuroblastoma (paediatric)	indication	6,338	5,572	+14%
7	Triple-negative breast cancer	indication	3,850	3,454	+11%
8	Localised prostate cancer, high and very high risk	indication	245	220	+11%
9	Prosthetic joint infection	indication	198	179	+11%
10	Multiple endocrine neoplasia syndromes (MEN1, MEN2, MEN4)	indication	188	170	+11%
11	Metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer	indication	764	694	+10%
12	Renal cell carcinoma	indication	3,245	2,949	+10%
13	Small-cell lung cancer	indication	8,266	7,667	+8%
14	HER2-positive breast cancer	indication	500	467	+7%
15	Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma	indication	5,610	5,291	+6%

Most cited key papers

Citations for 23 of 23 key papers, from OpenAlex (CC0) on 2026-10-22. Total citations reward age; the last two years show whether a paper is still being built on.

#	Paper	Journal	Citations	2025	2026
1	ALSYMPCA: alpha emitter radium-223 and survival in metastatic prostate cancer with bone metastases Parker C, Nilsson S, Heinrich D, et al. · 2013	New England Journal of Medicine	3,408	213	155
2	NETTER-1: 177Lu-Dotatate for midgut neuroendocrine tumours progressing on octreotide Strosberg J, El-Haddad G, Wolin E, et al. · 2017	New England Journal of Medicine	3,298	369	354
3	VISION: lutetium-177 PSMA-617 radioligand therapy extends survival in advanced prostate cancer Sartor O, de Bono J, Chi KN, et al. · 2021	New England Journal of Medicine	2,837	613	660
4	proPSMA: PSMA PET-CT versus conventional imaging for staging high-risk prostate cancer Hofman MS, Lawrentschuk N, Francis RJ, et al. · 2020	The Lancet	2,046	359	273
5	CLARINET: lanreotide in metastatic enteropancreatic neuroendocrine tumours Caplin ME, Pavel M, Ćwikła JB, et al. · 2014	New England Journal of Medicine	1,942	143	96
6	LuPSMA trial: single-arm phase 2 study of 177Lu-PSMA-617 in metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer Hofman MS, Violet J, Hicks RJ, Ferdinandus J, Thang SP, et al. · 2018	Lancet Oncology	1,177	117	82
7	TheraP: [177Lu]Lu-PSMA-617 versus cabazitaxel in metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer Hofman MS, Emmett L, Sandhu S, Iravani A, Joshua AM, et al. · 2021	Lancet	1,157	226	197
8	225Ac-PSMA-617 for PSMA-targeted alpha-radiation therapy of metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer Kratochwil C, Bruchertseifer F, Giesel FL, Weis M, Verburg FA, et al. · 2016	Journal of Nuclear Medicine	1,103	143	97
9	Radiopharmaceutical therapy in cancer: clinical advances and challenges Sgouros G, Bodei L, McDevitt MR, Nedrow JR · 2020	Nature Reviews Drug Discovery	970	222	163
10	RATHL: adapted treatment guided by interim PET-CT in advanced Hodgkin lymphoma Johnson P, Federico M, Kirkwood A, et al. · 2016	New England Journal of Medicine	818	52	53
11	DETECT-A: a blood test plus PET-CT found treatable cancers in 10,000 women with no symptoms Lennon AM, Buchanan AH, Kinde I, et al. · 2020	Science	658	113	71
12	SEMPET: FDG-PET as a predictor of viable tumour in post-chemotherapy seminoma residuals De Santis M, Becherer A, Bokemeyer C, et al. · 2004	Journal of Clinical Oncology	426	11	5
13	Health-related quality of life in the NETTER-1 trial of 177Lu-Dotatate Strosberg J, Wolin E, Chasen B, Kulke M, Bushnell D, et al. · 2018	JCO	392	39	20
14	NETTER-2: lutetium-177 dotatate as first treatment for higher-grade gastroenteropancreatic neuroendocrine tumours Singh S, Halperin D, Myrehaug S, et al. · 2024	The Lancet	392	186	162
15	PSMAfore: 177Lu-PSMA-617 versus a change of androgen receptor pathway inhibitor in taxane-naive mCRPC Morris MJ, Castellano D, Herrmann K, de Bono JS, Shore ND, et al. · 2024	Lancet	350	150	192
16	Radiotheranostics: a roadmap for future development Herrmann K, Schwaiger M, Lewis JS, Solomon SB, McNeil BJ, et al. · 2020	Lancet Oncology	327	65	59
17	Efficacy and safety of high-specific-activity 131I-MIBG therapy in advanced pheochromocytoma or paraganglioma Pryma DA, Chin BB, Noto RB, et al. · 2019	Journal of Nuclear Medicine	302	38	31
18	EANM dosimetry committee recommendations for dosimetry of 177Lu-labelled somatostatin-receptor- and PSMA-targeting ligands Sjögreen Gleisner K, Chouin N, Gabina PM, Cicone F, Gnesin S, et al. · 2022	European Journal of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging	255	58	66
19	CABINET (Alliance A021602): cabozantinib for advanced neuroendocrine tumours Chan JA, Geyer S, Zemla T, et al. · 2025	New England Journal of Medicine	165	89	72
20	ZIRCON: [89Zr]Zr-girentuximab PET-CT for detecting clear-cell renal cell carcinoma Shuch B, Pantuck AJ, Bernhard JC, Morris MA, Master V, et al. · 2024	Lancet Oncology	164	72	84
21	Appropriate use criteria for prostate-specific membrane antigen (PSMA) PET imaging Jadvar H, Calais J, Fanti S, Feng F, Greene KL, et al. · 2022	Journal of Nuclear Medicine	157	35	28
22	Results and adverse events of personalised peptide receptor radionuclide therapy in 1048 patients with neuroendocrine neoplasms Baum RP, Kulkarni HR, Singh A, Kaemmerer D, Mueller D, et al. · 2018	Oncotarget	141	7	5
23	Phase I dose-escalation study of 225Ac-J591, a PSMA-targeting alpha-emitting antibody, in mCRPC Tagawa ST, Thomas C, Sartor AO, Sun M, Stangl-Kremser J, et al. · 2024	JCO	76	29	23

Most published, last 12 months

#	Topic	Kind	Last 12 mo	Prior 12 mo	Change
1	Iobenguane I-131 (therapeutic)	drug	103,412	96,095	+8%
2	Non-small cell lung cancer	indication	17,831	17,123	+4%
3	Colorectal cancer	indication	14,006	14,101	-1%
4	Alzheimer's disease	indication	11,045	11,296	-2%
5	Hepatocellular carcinoma	indication	10,164	10,525	-3%
6	Small-cell lung cancer	indication	8,266	7,667	+8%
7	Prostate cancer	indication	8,031	7,978	+1%
8	CT (computed tomography)	technology	7,221	6,456	+12%
9	Norepinephrine transporter (NET)	target	6,670	4,640	+44%
10	Neuroblastoma (paediatric)	indication	6,338	5,572	+14%
11	HER2	target	5,790	4,802	+21%
12	Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma	indication	5,610	5,291	+6%
13	Gastric and gastro-oesophageal junction adenocarcinoma	indication	5,235	5,483	-5%
14	PET/CT	technology	4,980	4,283	+16%
15	Coronary artery disease	indication	4,361	4,335	+1%
16	PET (positron emission tomography)	technology	4,012	3,969	+1%
17	Urothelial cancer	indication	3,979	3,785	+5%
18	Triple-negative breast cancer	indication	3,850	3,454	+11%
19	Radiomics	technology	3,362	2,899	+16%
20	Renal cell carcinoma	indication	3,245	2,949	+10%

Method and caveats

Queries search title and abstract for the object’s name, brand, code, or curated phrases, and require a cancer word unless the object is a cancer. Query strings are shown on each object page under “Latest papers”.
Counts use Europe PMC’s first-publication date (FIRST_PDATE), so preprints and ahead-of-print articles count when they first appear. Europe PMC covers PubMed, PMC, Agricola, and major preprint servers.
Growth is (last 12 months − prior 12 months) / prior 12 months. Objects with fewer prior papers than the threshold are excluded from growth rankings but appear in the volume table.
Name collisions inflate some counts (a code like “MK-2870” is precise; a word like “PET” is not). Treat the ranking as a prompt to look, not as a measurement.
The current year is partial, so its bar is drawn lighter.