help button home button The Oncologist
HOME HELP CONTACT US SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS
This Article
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow eLetters: Submit a response to this article
Right arrow Purchase Article
Right arrow View Shopping Cart
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me when eLetters are posted
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Right arrow Citation Map
Services
Right arrow E-mail this article link to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrow Reprints/Permissions
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via HighWire
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Case, L. D.
Right arrow Articles by Tucker, R.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Case, L. D.
Right arrow Articles by Tucker, R.
The Oncologist, Vol. 7, No. 3, 181-187, June 2002
© 2002 AlphaMed Press

Interpreting Measures of Treatment Effect in Cancer Clinical Trials

L. Douglas Casea,c, Gretchen Kimmickb,c, Electra D. Pasketta,c, Kurt Lohmana, Robert Tuckerb,c

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:


Home page
 Journal of Emotional and Behavioral DisordersHome page
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]

Home page
 J Learn DisabilHome page
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]

Home page
 Ann Rheum DisHome page
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]


HOME HELP CONTACT US SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS
THE ONCOLOGIST STEM CELLS CME ALPHAMED PRESS JOURNALS


Copyright © 2002 by AlphaMed Press.