Generalized Pairwise Comparisons for Survival Analysis

• Published in: Journal of the Japan Statistical Society, Japanese Issue Vol. 52; no. 2; pp. 319 - 354
• Main Authors: Fukuda, Musashi, Oba, Koji, Sakamaki, Kentaro
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: Japanese
• Published: Japan Statistical Society 01.03.2023; 一般社団法人 日本統計学会
• Subjects: Net Benefit; U統計量; Win Ratio; 一般化ペアワイズ比較; 打ち切り; 生存時間解析
• ISSN: 0389-5602; 2189-1478
• DOI: 10.11329/jjssj.52.319

The Net Benefit and the Win Ratio are the effect measures used in clinical trials with survival endpoints such as oncology and cardiology. These measures are based on generalized pairwise comparisons. In a randomized trial, the statistical methods estimate the ‘win’ probability that a subject randomly selected from the new treatment group has a better outcome than a subject from the control group and the ‘loss’ probability in the opposite situation. The Net Benefit is the difference between these probabilities, and the Win Ratio is the ratio between them. In this study, we review several estimators of the win/loss probability in terms of generalized pairwise comparisons, and the variance of those estimators based on U-statistic theory. Especially, we explain how to deal with the censored data to estimate those probabilities. Finally, we illustrate using the actual data to implement those statistical methods by R-packages.