A practical Bayesian design to identify the maximum tolerated dose contour for drug combination trials. 2016

Liangcai Zhang, and Ying Yuan
Department of Statistics, Rice University, Houston, 77005, TX, U.S.A.

Drug combination therapy has become the mainstream approach to cancer treatment. One fundamental feature that makes combination trials different from single-agent trials is the existence of the maximum tolerated dose (MTD) contour, that is, multiple MTDs. As a result, unlike single-agent phase I trials, which aim to find a single MTD, it is often of interest to find the MTD contour for combination trials. We propose a new dose-finding design, the waterfall design, to find the MTD contour for drug combination trials. Taking the divide-and-conquer strategy, the waterfall design divides the task of finding the MTD contour into a sequence of one-dimensional dose-finding processes, known as subtrials. The subtrials are conducted sequentially in a certain order, such that the results of each subtrial will be used to inform the design of subsequent subtrials. Such information borrowing allows the waterfall design to explore the two-dimensional dose space efficiently using a limited sample size and decreases the chance of overdosing and underdosing patients. To accommodate the consideration that doses on the MTD contour may have very different efficacy or synergistic effects because of drug-drug interaction, we further extend our approach to a phase I/II design with the goal of finding the MTD with the highest efficacy. Simulation studies show that the waterfall design is safer and has higher probability of identifying the true MTD contour than some existing designs. The R package "BOIN" to implement the waterfall design is freely available from CRAN. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

UI MeSH Term Description Entries
D012107 Research Design A plan for collecting and utilizing data so that desired information can be obtained with sufficient precision or so that an hypothesis can be tested properly. Experimental Design,Data Adjustment,Data Reporting,Design, Experimental,Designs, Experimental,Error Sources,Experimental Designs,Matched Groups,Methodology, Research,Problem Formulation,Research Methodology,Research Proposal,Research Strategy,Research Technics,Research Techniques,Scoring Methods,Adjustment, Data,Adjustments, Data,Data Adjustments,Design, Research,Designs, Research,Error Source,Formulation, Problem,Formulations, Problem,Group, Matched,Groups, Matched,Matched Group,Method, Scoring,Methods, Scoring,Problem Formulations,Proposal, Research,Proposals, Research,Reporting, Data,Research Designs,Research Proposals,Research Strategies,Research Technic,Research Technique,Scoring Method,Source, Error,Sources, Error,Strategies, Research,Strategy, Research,Technic, Research,Technics, Research,Technique, Research,Techniques, Research
D003198 Computer Simulation Computer-based representation of physical systems and phenomena such as chemical processes. Computational Modeling,Computational Modelling,Computer Models,In silico Modeling,In silico Models,In silico Simulation,Models, Computer,Computerized Models,Computer Model,Computer Simulations,Computerized Model,In silico Model,Model, Computer,Model, Computerized,Model, In silico,Modeling, Computational,Modeling, In silico,Modelling, Computational,Simulation, Computer,Simulation, In silico,Simulations, Computer
D004305 Dose-Response Relationship, Drug The relationship between the dose of an administered drug and the response of the organism to the drug. Dose Response Relationship, Drug,Dose-Response Relationships, Drug,Drug Dose-Response Relationship,Drug Dose-Response Relationships,Relationship, Drug Dose-Response,Relationships, Drug Dose-Response
D004338 Drug Combinations Single preparations containing two or more active agents, for the purpose of their concurrent administration as a fixed dose mixture. Drug Combination,Combination, Drug,Combinations, Drug
D006801 Humans Members of the species Homo sapiens. Homo sapiens,Man (Taxonomy),Human,Man, Modern,Modern Man
D001499 Bayes Theorem A theorem in probability theory named for Thomas Bayes (1702-1761). In epidemiology, it is used to obtain the probability of disease in a group of people with some characteristic on the basis of the overall rate of that disease and of the likelihood of that characteristic in healthy and diseased individuals. The most familiar application is in clinical decision analysis where it is used for estimating the probability of a particular diagnosis given the appearance of some symptoms or test result. Bayesian Analysis,Bayesian Estimation,Bayesian Forecast,Bayesian Method,Bayesian Prediction,Analysis, Bayesian,Bayesian Approach,Approach, Bayesian,Approachs, Bayesian,Bayesian Approachs,Estimation, Bayesian,Forecast, Bayesian,Method, Bayesian,Prediction, Bayesian,Theorem, Bayes
D017321 Clinical Trials, Phase I as Topic Works about studies performed to evaluate the safety of diagnostic, therapeutic, or prophylactic drugs, devices, or techniques in healthy subjects and to determine the safe dosage range (if appropriate). These tests also are used to determine pharmacologic and pharmacokinetic properties (toxicity, metabolism, absorption, elimination, and preferred route of administration). They involve a small number of persons and usually last about 1 year. This concept includes phase I studies conducted both in the U.S. and in other countries. Clinical Trials, Phase I,Drug Evaluation, FDA Phase I,Evaluation Studies, FDA Phase I,Human Microdosing Trial,Phase 1 Clinical Trial,Phase I Clinical Trial,Phase I Clinical Trials,Clinical Trials, Phase 1,Drug Evaluation, FDA Phase 1,Drug Evaluation, FDA Phase I as Topic,Evaluation Studies, FDA Phase 1,Human Microdosing Trials,Microdosing Trials, Human,Phase 1 Clinical Trials,Microdosing Trial, Human,Trial, Human Microdosing,Trials, Human Microdosing
D020714 Maximum Tolerated Dose The highest dose of a biologically active agent given during a chronic study that will not reduce longevity from effects other than carcinogenicity. (from Lewis Dictionary of Toxicology, 1st ed) Maximal Tolerated Dose,Maximally Tolerated Dose,Dose, Maximal Tolerated,Dose, Maximally Tolerated,Dose, Maximum Tolerated,Doses, Maximal Tolerated,Doses, Maximally Tolerated,Doses, Maximum Tolerated,Maximal Tolerated Doses,Maximally Tolerated Doses,Maximum Tolerated Doses,Tolerated Dose, Maximal,Tolerated Dose, Maximally,Tolerated Dose, Maximum,Tolerated Doses, Maximal,Tolerated Doses, Maximally,Tolerated Doses, Maximum

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