Statistics in Oncology Series
Statistical Models in Clinical Studies
Although statistical models serve as the foundation of data analysis in clinical studies, their interpretation requires sufficient understanding of the underlying statistical framework. Statistical modeling is inherently a difficult task because of the general lack of information of the nature of observable data. In this article, we aim to provide some guidance when using regression models to aid clinical researchers to better interpret results from their statistical models and to encourage investigators to collaborate with a statistician to ensure that their studies are designed and analyzed appropriately.Statistical Considerations for Subgroup Analyses
Randomized clinical trials (RCTs) are conducted to evaluate the effect of an experimental treatment on outcomes of a target patient population. Eligibility criteria for large trials are often broad to ensure that the trial results can be generalized to a larger patient population. Subgroup analyses, either specified a priori or post hoc, are perfo rmed to evaluate the treatment effect specific to a subgroup of treated patients. Regardless of whether a subgroup analysis is specified a priori or post hoc, investigators must consider inflated false-positive rates, chance differences in observed treatment effects, low power for the comparisons of interest, and interpretation of the subgroup results.
