Biomaterial Database

Cure models as a useful statistical tool for analyzing survival. 2012

Megan Othus, and Bart Barlogie, and Michael L Leblanc, and John J Crowley

Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Seattle, WA 98117, USA. mothus@fhcrc.org

Cure models are a popular topic within statistical literature but are not as widely known in the clinical literature. Many patients with cancer can be long-term survivors of their disease, and cure models can be a useful tool to analyze and describe cancer survival data. The goal of this article is to review what a cure model is, explain when cure models can be used, and use cure models to describe multiple myeloma survival trends. Multiple myeloma is generally considered an incurable disease, and this article shows that by using cure models, rather than the standard Cox proportional hazards model, we can evaluate whether there is evidence that therapies at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences induce a proportion of patients to be long-term survivors.

UI	MeSH Term	Description	Entries
D009369	Neoplasms	New abnormal growth of tissue. Malignant neoplasms show a greater degree of anaplasia and have the properties of invasion and metastasis, compared to benign neoplasms.	Benign Neoplasm,Cancer,Malignant Neoplasm,Tumor,Tumors,Benign Neoplasms,Malignancy,Malignant Neoplasms,Neoplasia,Neoplasm,Neoplasms, Benign,Cancers,Malignancies,Neoplasias,Neoplasm, Benign,Neoplasm, Malignant,Neoplasms, Malignant
D006801	Humans	Members of the species Homo sapiens.	Homo sapiens,Man (Taxonomy),Human,Man, Modern,Modern Man
D000465	Algorithms	A procedure consisting of a sequence of algebraic formulas and/or logical steps to calculate or determine a given task.	Algorithm
D001699	Biometry	The use of statistical and mathematical methods to analyze biological observations and phenomena.	Biometric Analysis,Biometrics,Analyses, Biometric,Analysis, Biometric,Biometric Analyses
D015233	Models, Statistical	Statistical formulations or analyses which, when applied to data and found to fit the data, are then used to verify the assumptions and parameters used in the analysis. Examples of statistical models are the linear model, binomial model, polynomial model, two-parameter model, etc.	Probabilistic Models,Statistical Models,Two-Parameter Models,Model, Statistical,Models, Binomial,Models, Polynomial,Statistical Model,Binomial Model,Binomial Models,Model, Binomial,Model, Polynomial,Model, Probabilistic,Model, Two-Parameter,Models, Probabilistic,Models, Two-Parameter,Polynomial Model,Polynomial Models,Probabilistic Model,Two Parameter Models,Two-Parameter Model
D016016	Proportional Hazards Models	Statistical models used in survival analysis that assert that the effect of the study factors on the hazard rate in the study population is multiplicative and does not change over time.	Cox Model,Cox Proportional Hazards Model,Hazard Model,Hazards Model,Hazards Models,Models, Proportional Hazards,Proportional Hazard Model,Proportional Hazards Model,Cox Models,Cox Proportional Hazards Models,Hazard Models,Proportional Hazard Models,Hazard Model, Proportional,Hazard Models, Proportional,Hazards Model, Proportional,Hazards Models, Proportional,Model, Cox,Model, Hazard,Model, Hazards,Model, Proportional Hazard,Model, Proportional Hazards,Models, Cox,Models, Hazard,Models, Hazards,Models, Proportional Hazard
D016019	Survival Analysis	A class of statistical procedures for estimating the survival function (function of time, starting with a population 100% well at a given time and providing the percentage of the population still well at later times). The survival analysis is then used for making inferences about the effects of treatments, prognostic factors, exposures, and other covariates on the function.	Analysis, Survival,Analyses, Survival,Survival Analyses
D016896	Treatment Outcome	Evaluation undertaken to assess the results or consequences of management and procedures used in combating disease in order to determine the efficacy, effectiveness, safety, and practicability of these interventions in individual cases or series.	Rehabilitation Outcome,Treatment Effectiveness,Clinical Effectiveness,Clinical Efficacy,Patient-Relevant Outcome,Treatment Efficacy,Effectiveness, Clinical,Effectiveness, Treatment,Efficacy, Clinical,Efficacy, Treatment,Outcome, Patient-Relevant,Outcome, Rehabilitation,Outcome, Treatment,Outcomes, Patient-Relevant,Patient Relevant Outcome,Patient-Relevant Outcomes
D017741	Survivors	Persons who have experienced a prolonged survival after serious disease or who continue to live with a usually life-threatening condition as well as family members, significant others, or individuals surviving traumatic life events.	Long-Term Survivors,Long Term Survivors,Long-Term Survivor,Survivor,Survivor, Long-Term,Survivors, Long-Term