Evidence map›Paper›PMID 36626408›Full record

ArticleCancer epidemiology, biomarkers & prevention : a publication of the American Association for Cancer Research, cosponsored by the American Society of Preventive Oncology2023

Elucidating Analytic Bias Due to Informative Cohort Entry in Cancer Clinico-genomic Datasets.

Kenneth L Kehl, Hajime Uno, Alexander Gusev, Stefan Groha, Samantha Brown, Jessica A Lavery, Deborah Schrag, Katherine S Panageas

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Cancer epidemiology, biomarkers & prevention : a publication of the American Association for Cancer Research, cosponsored by the American Society of Preventive Oncology, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
2citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

2 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Learning Patient Similarity from Genomics for Precision Oncology.medRxiv : the preprint server for health sciences · 2025
    Article
  2. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

8 authors.

Kenneth L KehlDivision of Population Sciences, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts.ORCID 0000-0001-5339-9797
Hajime UnoDivision of Population Sciences, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts.ORCID 0000-0003-0622-8471
Alexander GusevDivision of Population Sciences, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts.ORCID 0000-0002-7980-4620
Stefan GrohaDivision of Population Sciences, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts.ORCID 0000-0002-0714-5080
Samantha BrownDepartment of Epidemiology & Biostatistics, Memorial-Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, New York.ORCID 0000-0001-5352-974X
Jessica A LaveryDepartment of Epidemiology & Biostatistics, Memorial-Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, New York.ORCID 0000-0002-2746-5647
Deborah SchragDepartment of Medicine, Memorial-Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, New York.ORCID 0000-0002-4334-5717
Katherine S PanageasDepartment of Epidemiology & Biostatistics, Memorial-Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, New York.ORCID 0000-0002-6591-604X

Funding

X-RAY CRYSTALLOGRAPHYP30CA008748 · NCI · SLOAN-KETTERING INSTITUTE FOR CANCER RES · PI Nicholas D Socci · 1985 to 2026
$347.4M
Deep clinical trajectory modeling to optimize accrual to cancer clinical trialsR00CA245899 · NCI · DANA-FARBER CANCER INST · PI KEHL, KENNETH L · 2022 to 2024
$747k
Doris Duke Charitable Foundation 2020080NCI NIH HHS P30 CA008748NCI NIH HHS R00 CA245899
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundOncologists often order genomic testing to inform treatment for worsening cancer. The resulting correlation between genomic testing timing and prognosis, or "informative entry," can bias observational clinico-genomic research. The efficacy of existing approaches to this problem in clinico-genomic cohorts is poorly understood.

methodsWe simulated clinico-genomic cohorts followed from an index date to death. Subgroups in each cohort who underwent genomic testing before death were "observed." We varied data generation parameters under four scenarios: (i) independent testing and survival times; (ii) correlated testing and survival times for all patients; (iii) correlated testing and survival times for a subset of patients; and (iv) testing and mortality exclusively following progression events. We examined the behavior of conditional Kendall tau (Tc) statistics, Cox entry time coefficients, and biases in overall survival (OS) estimation and biomarker inference across scenarios.

resultsScenario #1 yielded null Tc and Cox entry time coefficients and unbiased OS inference. Scenario #2 yielded positive Tc, negative Cox entry time coefficients, underestimated OS, and biomarker associations biased toward the null. Scenario #3 yielded negative Tc, positive Cox entry time coefficients, and underestimated OS, but biomarker estimates were less biased. Scenario #4 yielded null Tc and Cox entry time coefficients, underestimated OS, and biased biomarker estimates. Transformation and copula modeling did not provide unbiased results.

conclusionsApproaches to informative clinico-genomic cohort entry, including Tc and Cox entry time statistics, are sensitive to heterogeneity in genotyping and survival time distributions. IMPACT: Novel methods are needed for unbiased inference using observational clinico-genomic data.

Indexed as

NeoplasmsBiasCausalityGenomicsHumans

Identifiers

PMID36626408
PMCPMC9992002

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.