Overall survival

Overall Survival is a term used in the field of epidemiology and medical research to denote the percentage of people in a study or treatment group who are still alive for a certain period of time after they were diagnosed with or started treatment for a disease, such as cancer. The time period usually begins at the time of diagnosis or the start of treatment and ends at the time of death. If a person is still alive at the end of the study period, they are considered to have survived.

Definition

Overall survival is defined as the time from the start of treatment or diagnosis until death from any cause. It is a direct measure of the net clinical benefit of a treatment. It is often used as the gold standard endpoint in clinical trials, especially those involving patients with advanced disease.

Calculation

The calculation of overall survival involves determining the number of patients who are still alive at the end of a specified period of time. This is usually done by dividing the number of surviving patients by the total number of patients in the study or treatment group. The result is then multiplied by 100 to obtain a percentage.

Use in Clinical Trials

In clinical trials, overall survival is often used as a primary endpoint to determine the effectiveness of a new treatment. It is considered a direct measure of the net clinical benefit of a treatment. However, it can be influenced by subsequent therapies, which can make it difficult to assess the true effect of the treatment being studied.

Limitations

While overall survival is a valuable measure in clinical trials, it does have some limitations. It requires long follow-up periods, which can be challenging in fast-progressing diseases. It can also be influenced by subsequent therapies, making it difficult to assess the true effect of the treatment being studied.

See Also

• Progression-free survival
• Disease-free survival
• Time to progression
• Clinical trial

Overall survival Resources
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