title: A statistical issue regarding the original paper by M. Tamiya and others (Med Oncol (2016) 33:2 DOI 10.1007/s12032-015-0715-7).
authors.affiliation: Department of Respiratory Medicine, Kurashiki Central Hospital, 1-1-1 Miwa, Kurashiki, Okayama, 710-8602, Japan. hgyoshioka@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Hiroshige
authors.identifier: 0000-0001-7724-0481
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Yoshioka
authors.affiliation: Department of Respiratory Medicine, Kurashiki Central Hospital, 1-1-1 Miwa, Kurashiki, Okayama, 710-8602, Japan.
authors.forename: Toshihiko
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kaneda
authors.affiliation: Department of Respiratory Medicine, Kurashiki Central Hospital, 1-1-1 Miwa, Kurashiki, Okayama, 710-8602, Japan.
authors.forename: Toshihide
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Yokoyama