Clearer survival measures for cancer treatment decisions

Survival Data Analysis using general censoring-free incident rate

NIH-funded research Dana-Farber Cancer Inst · NIH-11309126

A new statistical approach to give patients and doctors clearer numbers about how cancer treatments change survival over time.

Quick facts

Grant typeR01 grant
Study typeNIH-funded research
Funding institutionDana-Farber Cancer Inst NIH-funded
Lab location1 site (Boston, United States)
Project IDNIH-11309126 on NIH RePORTER

What this research studies

From my perspective as a patient, the team is creating a new summary measure called the "average hazard" to make survival results easier to understand. They will develop the mathematics and test the method using clinical trial data and simulations to compare it with standard hazard-ratio and log-rank approaches. The work focuses on producing censoring-free person-time incidence rates that aim to show the magnitude of benefit or risk more directly. If adopted, the method could make trial results more useful when choosing between cancer treatments.

Who could benefit from this research

Good fit: Patients with cancer who are enrolled in clinical trials that record time-to-event outcomes (like survival or progression) or who can provide access to their trial data are most relevant.

Not a fit: People not enrolled in trials or whose care does not involve time-to-event outcomes would likely not see direct benefit from this work.

Why it matters

Potential benefit: This could give patients and clinicians more directly interpretable numbers about treatment risks and benefits, improving shared decision-making.

How similar studies have performed: Traditional tools like hazard ratios and log-rank tests are well established but sometimes hard to interpret, and this "average hazard" approach is novel and not yet widely used in practice.

Where this research is happening

Boston, United States

Researchers

About this research

  1. This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
  2. Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
  3. For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page below.
Conditions Cancer Treatment
Last reviewed 2026-06-13 by the Find a Trial editorial team. Information on this page is for educational purposes and is not medical advice. Always consult qualified healthcare professionals about clinical trial participation.