Unveiling Carbonic Anhydrase VIII, X, XI Expression in Cancer and Neurological Diseases Through Integrated Bioinformatics Approaches.

Pain is one of the most common and distressing symptoms experienced by patients with cancer, significantly impacting their quality of life, mental health, and the overall clinical treatment outcomes (, ). Despite advances in traditional pain management strategies (primarily opioid therapy), many patients still fail to achieve adequate pain control due to adverse reactions, drug tolerance, and limited efficacy (). Consequently, there is growing interest in complementary and integrative approaches to enhance the effectiveness and safety of cancer pain management (). In recent years, Chinese herbal medicine has been widely used as an adjunctive therapy for cancer due to its holistic and multi-targeted approach (). Chinese herbal medicines are often combined with conventional drug therapies to alleviate symptoms, reduce treatment-related side effects, and improve patients' quality of life (). Increasing clinical and experimental evidence suggests that Chinese herbal medicine may alleviate cancer pain, improve quality of life, and enhance the efficacy of conventional analgesic therapies (, ). Growing interest in the mechanisms and clinical applications of Chinese herbal medicine has led to a rapid increase in publications in this field (). At the same time, research on Chinese herbal medicine in the field of oncology has garnered growing attention, with a mounting body of clinical evidence supporting its role in managing cancer symptoms and improving quality of life (). Although publications on Chinese herbal medicine for cancer pain have increased substantially in recent years, the overall research landscape remains fragmented and has not been systematically characterized (, ). Differences in research focus, study design, and thematic orientation make it difficult to gain a clear and comprehensive understanding of developments in this field (). Previous studies have mainly focused on clinical efficacy, quality of life, or palliative care outcomes, whereas little attention has been paid to the overall knowledge structure, collaboration networks, research hotspots, and developmental trends of this field (, , ). Consequently, a comprehensive understanding of how this field has evolved, who the major contributors are, and which topics are driving current and future research is still lacking.