Methods and Biostatistics in Oncology: Understanding Clinical Research as an Applied Tool

ISBN-13: 9783319713236 / Angielski / Twarda / 2018 / 348 str.

Raphael L. C. Araujo; Rachel P. Riechelmann

Opis

This book introduces and discusses the most important aspects of clinical research methods and biostatistics for oncologists, pursuing a tailor-made and practical approach. Evidence-based medicine (EBM) has been in vogue in the last few decades, particularly in rapidly advancing fields such as oncology.

Spis treści

Preface

Author: Mithat Gönen – chief of biostatistics department of Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center – NY – USA.

Background of scientific method in oncology

Author: Vinícius Vazquez – Surgical oncologist – Barretos Cancer Hospital, Barretos, São Paulo, Brazil

Writing a hypothesis for a oncology study

Author: Felipe Fregni, Harvard Medical School

Type of variables and distributions

Author: Gregory Pond, MacMaster, Hamilton, ON, Canada

Testing measures of association

Author: To be defined

Sample size calculation for oncology trials

Author: Ulrich Güller, Kantonsspital St. Gallen, 9007, St Gallen, Switzerland. ulrich.gueller@kssg.ch

Uni and multivariate analysis (understanding of regressions) in cancer research

Author: Marc Buyse, EORTC 

Survival analyses in cancer trials

Author: Daniel Sargent, Mayo Clinic

The role of transversal and cohort studies in oncology

Author: To be defined

Design of retrospective and case-control studies in oncology

Author: To be defined

Minimizing differences by randomization

Author: To be defined

How to design phase I trials in oncology

Author: Lillian Siu, Princess Margert Hospital, Toronto, ON, Canada ou Carlos Gil, INCA

The many different designs of phase II oncology trials

Author: Gilberto de Castro e Paulo Hoff?

Superiority and non-inferiority phase III oncology trials

Authors: Everardo Saad, (affiliation TBD)

Phase IV oncology trials 

Author:

Analysis of graphs in clinical cancer research

Author: Raphael Araujo – Upper GI and HPB Surgery department;  Barretos Cancer Hospital, Barretos, SP, Brazil

Identifying biases in clinical cancer research

Author: Rachel Riechelmann, Instituto do Cancer do Estado de Sao Paulo, Universidade de São Paulo

Ethics in clinical cancer research

Author: Rodrigo Guidalini

Cost-effectiveness studies in oncology

Author: Ian Tannock, Princess Margert Hospital, Toronto, ON, Canada

How to undertake outcomes research in oncology

Author: Christopher Booth,  NCI Canada, Kingston, ON

Systematic review and meta-analysis of oncology studies

Author: André Sasse

Meta-research in oncology

Author: Everardo Saad

Analysis of quality of life and patient-reported outcomes in oncology

Author: Jan

ette Vardy, University of Sidney, Australia

Exercises

Commented answers

Glossary

O autorze

Raphael L. C. Araujo is a Surgical Oncologist specialized in the diagnosis and treatment of malignant and benign injuries of the liver, pancreas and colorectal liver metastases. He spent two years (2010 / 2012) as a Research Fellow at the Hepatopancreatobiliary Service of the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York (USA). During this time, he worked on clinical research of surgical and systemic treatment of pancreatic cancer and colorectal liver metastases. Afterwards, he also spent one year as a resident of the Hepatopancreatobiliary Service at the Hospital Paul Brousse, France (2012/2013). Dr. Araujo received a PhD and concluded his postdoctoral research in Gastroenterology from the University of São Paulo School of Medicine, the same institution where he worked for 2 years as an attending physician in the Liver Surgery Unit. He is currently head of the Department of Upper Gastrointestinal and Hepato-Pancreato-Biliary Surgery and Professor of the Post Graduation Program of Barretos Cancer Hospital, Barretos, São Paulo, Brazil, and Scientific Director of Brazilian Society of Surgical Oncology.

Rachel P. Riechelmann is a medical oncologist and researcher in the field of gastrointestinal cancers. She completed her formal training and PhD at the Federal University of Sao Paulo, followed by a clinical research fellowship at Princess Margaret Hospital, University of Toronto, Canada. She is currently the Director of the Department of Oncology at AC Camargo Cancer Center,  which is one of the largest academic cancer centers in Brazil and Latin America, and Research Director of the Brazilian Gastrointestinal Tumors Group. Research- wise, her areas of interest and expertise are GI malignancies and Neuroendocrine Tumors as well as Methodology of Clinical Research. She has 78 publications in peer-reviewed journals and several PhD students and oncology fellows conducting projects under her supervision. 

Blurb

This book introduces and discusses the most important aspects of clinical research methods and biostatistics for oncologists, pursuing a tailor-made and practical approach.

Evidence-based medicine (EBM) has been in vogue in the last few decades, particularly in rapidly advancing fields such as oncology. This approach has been used to support decision-making processes worldwide, sparking new clinical research and guidelines on clinical and surgical oncology. Clinical oncology research has many peculiarities, including specific study endpoints, a special focus on survival analyses, and a unique perspective on EBM. However, during medical studies and in general practice, these topics are barely taught. Moreover, even when EBM and clinical cancer research are discussed, they are presented in a theoretical fashion, mostly focused on formulas and numbers, rather than on clinical application for a proper literature appraisal.

Addressing that gap, this book discusse

s more practical aspects of clinical research and biostatistics in oncology, instead of relying only on mathematical formulas and theoretical considerations. Methods and Biostatistics in Oncology will help readers develop the skills they need to understand the use of research on everyday oncology clinical practice for study design and interpretation, as well to demystify the use of EBM in oncology.