title: Long-term survival rates of laryngeal cancer patients treated by radiation and surgery, radiation alone, and surgery alone: studied by lognormal and Kaplan-Meier survival methods.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Validation of the use of the lognormal model for predicting long-term survival rates using short-term follow-up data.
  
  
  METHODS
  907 cases of laryngeal cancer were treated from 1973-1977 by radiation and surgery (248), radiation alone (345), and surgery alone (314), in registries of Connecticut and Metropolitan Detroit of the SEER database, with known survival status up to 1999. Phase 1 of this study used the minimum chi-square test to assess the goodness of fit of the survival times of those who died with disease to a lognormal distribution. Phase 2 used the maximum likelihood method to estimate long-term survival rates using short-term follow-up data. In order to validate the lognormal model, the estimated long-term cancer-specific survival rates (CSSR) were compared with the values calculated by the Kaplan-Meier (KM) method using long-term data.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The 25-year CSSR were predicted to be 72%, 68% and 65% for treatments by radiation and surgery, by radiation alone, and by surgery alone respectively, using short-term follow-up data by the lognormal model. Corresponding results calculated by the KM method were: 72+/-3%, 68+/-3% and 66+/-4% respectively.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The lognormal model was validated for the prediction of the long-term survival rates of laryngeal cancer patients treated by these different methods. The lognormal model may become a useful tool in research on outcomes.
authors.affiliation: Allan Blair Cancer Center, Saskatchewan Cancer Agency, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatchewan, Canada. ptai@scf.sk.ca
authors.forename: Patricia
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Tai
authors.forename: Edward
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Yu
authors.forename: Ross
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Shiels
authors.forename: Jon
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Tonita
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D003131:Combined Modality Therapy; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007822:Laryngeal Neoplasms / Q000401:mortality* / Q000532:radiotherapy / Q000601:surgery / Q000628:therapy*; D016013:Likelihood Functions; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015233:Models, Statistical; D016011:Normal Distribution; D016019:Survival Analysis; D015996:Survival Rate