Synonyms
Kaplan–Meier product limit estimator; Life table estimates; Time-to-event analysis
Definition
Kaplan–Meier survival analysis is a nonparametric method of summarizing survival event probabilities in tabular and graphical form.
Characteristics
Often, the focus of cancer epidemiology studies is on measurement of disease-free survival time (see also, epidemiology of cancer). For example, the success of a breast cancer treatment might be discussed in terms of time-until-relapse or cancer-free survival time. To measure time effectively, a meaningful origin is chosen such as birth, first diagnosis of cancer, beginning of treatment or last known occurrence of the disease. In a randomized study or clinical trial, we might begin measuring time at the point of randomization to treatment. Typically, time is measured prospectively in a survival study in contrast to the retrospective measurement of exposure in the case control association study.
The outcome of interest is often measured as...
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References
Allison PD (1995) Survival Analysis Using the SAS System: A Practical Guide SAS Institute, Cary, NC
Cox DR (1972) Regression models and life tables. J Roy Stat Soc B 34:187–220
Kaplan EL, Meier P (1958) Nonparametric estimation from incomplete observations. J Am Stat Assoc 53:457–481
Lee ET (1992) Statistical methods for survival data analysis, 2nd edn. John Wiley, New York
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© 2008 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg New York
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May, W.L. (2008). Kaplan-Meier Survival Analysis. In: Schwab, M. (eds) Encyclopedia of Cancer. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-540-47648-1_3196
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-540-47648-1_3196
Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg
Print ISBN: 978-3-540-36847-2
Online ISBN: 978-3-540-47648-1
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