Definition
A surrogate endpoint is an outcome observed prior to a health outcome of interest (called the true endpoint) that is used to make conclusions about the effect of intervention on the true endpoint.
Characteristics
Role of Surrogate Endpoints in Cancer Research
The role of surrogate endpoints in cancer research depends on the purposes of the analysis. The main roles are to
Shorten the length of time needed to evaluate a new treatment for clinical use.
Quickly and cheaply evaluate interventions at an early phase of development as a prelude to more rigorous evaluation.
Ideally, these roles require the surrogate endpoint to be validated. As with so many terms used in the medical literature, the meaning of the term “validation” can vary among medical scientists. We define validation of a surrogate endpoint as a formal process of data analysis for determining how well the surrogate endpoint can be used...
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References
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© 2011 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg
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Baker, S.G., Kramer, B.S. (2011). Surrogate Endpoint. In: Schwab, M. (eds) Encyclopedia of Cancer. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-16483-5_5602
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-16483-5_5602
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