Objective To conduct a visual analysis of the current status, hotspots, and frontiers of research on renal cell carcinoma targeted therapy using VOSviewer software.

Methods Literature related to renal cell carcinoma targeted therapy published between January 1, 2006 and December 31, 2023, from the Web of Science (WOS) Core Collection database were retrieved. Eligible articles were screened and subjected to bibliometric and visual analysis using VOSviewer software.

Results A total of 1, 009 articles were selected, with an overall increasing trend in annual publication volume. The top three countries in terms of publication output were the United States, China, and Italy, while the top three institutions were Harvard University, The University of Texas, and France Uni-cancer Institute. The analysis of the core author collaboration network revealed close collaboration among researchers in the United States and the United Kingdom, whereas collaboration between China and foreign countries was limited, resulting in a relatively loose collaboration network. Through co-occurrence clustering analysis of high-frequency author keywords, nine clusters were generated, with hotspots focusing on targeted and immune combination therapy, efficacy, prognosis, drug resistance, targets, and biomarkers.

Conclusion Remarkable progress has been made in renal cell carcinoma targeted therapy research over the past decade; however, drug resistance and adverse reactions to targeted therapies remain challenges in clinical treatment. Research related to targeted drug resistance mechanisms, novel targeted drugs, and effective predictive biomarkers has significantly increased. Grasping the developmental trends in this fieldis crucial, and VOSviewer's visual analysis can offer an intuitive representation of the current status, hotspots, and frontiers, thereby providing researchers with a valuable reference.