Revisiting a Null Hypothesis: Exploring the Parameters of Oligometastasis Treatment.

ABSTRACT:

Purpose

In the treatment of patients with metastatic cancer, the current paradigm states that metastasis-directed therapy does not prolong life. This paradigm forms the basis of clinical trial null hypotheses, where trials are built to test the null hypothesis that patients garner no overall survival benefit from targeting metastatic lesions. However, with advancing imaging technology and increasingly precise techniques for targeting lesions, a much larger proportion of metastatic disease can be treated. As a result, the life-extending benefit of targeting metastatic disease is becoming increasingly clear.

Methods and materials

In this work, we suggest shifting this qualitative null hypothesis and describe a mathematical model that can be used to frame a new, quantitative nu

SUBMITTER: Scarborough JA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8122026 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature