This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) eLetters: Submit a response to this article Purchase Article View Shopping Cart Alert me when this article is cited Alert me when eLetters are posted Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services E-mail this article link to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Reprints/Permissions Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Case, L. D. Articles by Tucker, R. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Case, L. D. Articles by Tucker, R.

Interpreting Measures of Treatment Effect in Cancer Clinical Trials

^a Department of Public Health Sciences, ^b Department of Internal Medicine, ^c Comprehensive Cancer Center of Wake Forest University, Wake Forest University School of Medicine, Winston-Salem, North Carolina, USA

Correspondence: L. Douglas Case, Ph.D., Section on Biostatistics, Department of Public Health Sciences, Wake Forest University School of Medicine, Medical Center Boulevard, Winston-Salem, North Carolina 27157, USA. Telephone: 336-716-1048; Fax: 336-716-5425; e-mail: dcase{at}wfubmc.edu

The efficacy of a new cancer regimen is usually assessed by analyzing outcomes such as tumor response and overall survival. Many publications summarizing results of cancer clinical trials report measures such as odds ratios and hazard ratios, as these are the estimators of treatment effect obtained from regression models used to analyze the data. However, these measures are sometimes misinterpreted, as they are not necessarily familiar to many readers. The most common mistake is to interpret both measures as relative risks, an interpretation that can lead to an incorrect impression of the impact of the treatment on response and survival.

Key Words. Relative risk • Tumor response • Odds ratio • Survival • Hazard ratio

This article has been cited by other articles:

				P. L. Morgan, G. Farkas, and Qiong Wu Kindergarten Predictors of Recurring Externalizing and Internalizing Psychopathology in the Third and Fifth Grades Journal of Emotional and Behavioral Disorders, June 1, 2009; 17(2): 67 - 79. [Abstract] [PDF]

				P. L. Morgan, G. Farkas, P. A. Tufis, and R. A. Sperling Are Reading and Behavior Problems Risk Factors for Each Other? J Learn Disabil, September 1, 2008; 41(5): 417 - 436. [Abstract] [PDF]

				F Richy, O Bruyere, O Ethgen, V Rabenda, G Bouvenot, M Audran, G Herrero-Beaumont, A Moore, R Eliakim, M Haim, et al. Time dependent risk of gastrointestinal complications induced by non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug use: a consensus statement using a meta-analytic approach Ann Rheum Dis, July 1, 2004; 63(7): 759 - 766. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]