Evidence map›Paper›PMID 39657588›Full record

ReviewNeuro-oncology2025

Practical and statistical aspects of subgroup analyses in surgical neuro-oncology: A comprehensive review from the PIONEER consortium.

Jasper K W Gerritsen, Philipp Karschnia, Jacob S Young, Martin J van den Bent, Susan M Chang, Timothy R Smith, Brian V Nahed, Jordina Rincon-Torroella, Chetan Bettegowda, Nader Sanai and 12 more

Abstract readReview
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Review in Neuro-oncology, 2025. 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. Article
  2. Review
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

22 authors.

Jasper K W GerritsenDepartment of Neurosurgery, Erasmus Medical Center, Rotterdam, The Netherlands.ORCID 0000-0003-4619-865X
Philipp KarschniaDepartment of Neurosurgery, Ludwig-Maximilian University Hospital, Munich, Germany.ORCID 0000-0002-1254-5310
Jacob S YoungDepartment of Neurosurgery, University of California, San Francisco, California, USA.
Martin J van den BentDepartment of Neurology, Erasmus MC Cancer Institute, Rotterdam, The Netherlands.
Susan M ChangDepartment of Neurosurgery, University of California, San Francisco, California, USA.
Timothy R SmithDepartment of Neurosurgery, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.
Brian V NahedDepartment of Neurosurgery, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.ORCID 0000-0001-8537-106X
Jordina Rincon-TorroellaDepartment of Neurosurgery, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland, USA.ORCID 0000-0003-4798-8231
Chetan BettegowdaDepartment of Neurosurgery, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland, USA.
Nader SanaiDepartment of Neurosurgery, Barrow Neurological Institute, Phoenix, Arizona, USA.
Sandro M KriegDepartment of Neurosurgery, University Hospital Heidelberg, Heidelberg, Germany.
Takashi MaruyamaDepartment of Neurosurgery, Tokyo Women's Medical University, Tokyo, Japan (T.M.).
Philippe SchuchtDepartment of Neurosurgery, Inselspital University Hospital Bern, Bern, Switzerland.
Marike L D BroekmanDepartment of Neurosurgery, Haaglanden Medical Center, The Hague, The Netherlands.
Joerg-Christian TonnDepartment of Neurosurgery, Ludwig-Maximilian University Hospital, Munich, Germany.
Patrick Y WenDepartment of Neuro-Oncology, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, Maryland, USA.ORCID 0000-0002-0774-7700
Steven De VleeschouwerDepartment of Neurosurgery, University Hospitals Leuven, Leuven, Belgium.
Arnaud J P E VincentDepartment of Neurosurgery, Erasmus Medical Center, Rotterdam, The Netherlands.
Shawn Hervey-JumperDepartment of Neurosurgery, University of California, San Francisco, California, USA.ORCID 0000-0003-4699-260X
Mitchel S BergerDepartment of Neurosurgery, University of California, San Francisco, California, USA.
Rania A MekaryDepartment of Neurosurgery, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.
Annette M MolinaroDepartment of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, University of California, San Francisco, California, USA.ORCID 0000-0002-9854-7404

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Subgroup analyses are essential to generate new hypotheses or to estimate treatment effects in clinically meaningful subgroups of patients. They play an important role in taking the next step toward personalized surgical treatment for brain tumor patients. However, subgroup analyses must be used with consideration and care because they have significant potential risks. Although some recommendations are available on the pearls and pitfalls of these analyses, a comprehensive guide is lacking, especially one focused on surgical neuro-oncology patients. This paper, therefore, reviews and summarizes for the first time comprehensively the practical and statistical considerations that are critical to this field. First, we evaluate the considerations when choosing a study design for surgical neuro-oncology studies and examine those unique to this field. Second, we give an overview of the relevant aspects to interpret subgroup analyses adequately. Third, we discuss the practical and statistical elements necessary to appropriately design and use subgroup analyses. The paper aims to provide an in-depth and complete guide to better understand risk modeling and assist the reader with practical examples of designing, using, and interpreting subgroup analyses.

Indexed as

Brain NeoplasmsResearch DesignSurgical OncologyData Interpretation, StatisticalHumansconfoundingmalignant gliomamultiplicitystudy designsubgroup analysis

Identifiers

PMID39657588
PMCPMC12187369

What OpenQuestion holds

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Registered trials

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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.