Conformal radiotherapy after surgery for paediatric ependymoma: a prospective study

TL;DR: The spectrum of postsurgical morbidity following primary and recurrent posterior fossa ependymoma resection is detailed, with the crude complication rate following resection of infratentorial recurrent ependymoma lower than that of primary ependymoma, although a statistical comparison revealed no significant differences between the groups.

TL;DR: A new molecular classification has been recently validated and holds great promise for the accurate diagnosis and management of pediatric ependymoma, with potential for novel therapeutic targets that may improve prognosis in an otherwise difficult to manage tumor.

TL;DR: More detailed and precise patient-reported outcomes collected prospectively with long-term follow-up are essential to further the understanding of acute and long- term sequelae associated with PBT.

TL;DR: The outcomes of pediatric ependymoma in Saudi Arabia are comparable to those reported by international investigators for similar populations, and further improvements can be achieved by avoiding delays in radiation therapy and adding molecular staging.

TL;DR: This article proposes methods for combining estimates of the cause-specific hazard functions under the proportional hazards formulation, but these methods do not allow the analyst to directly assess the effect of a covariate on the marginal probability function.

Abstract: Preface.1. Introduction.1.1 Failure Time Data.1.2 Failure Time Distributions.1.3 Time Origins, Censoring, and Truncation.1.4 Estimation of the Survivor Function.1.5 Comparison of Survival Curves.1.6 Generalizations to Accommodate Delayed Entry.1.7 Counting Process Notation.Bibliographic Notes.Exercises and Complements.2. Failure Time Models.2.1 Introduction.2.2 Some Continuous Parametric Failure Time Models.2.3 Regression Models.2.4 Discrete Failure Time Models.Bibliographic Notes.Exercises and Complements.3. Inference in Parametric Models and Related Topics.3.1 Introduction.3.2 Censoring Mechanisms.3.3 Censored Samples from an Exponential Distribution.3.4 Large-Sample Likelihood Theory.3.5 Exponential Regression.3.6 Estimation in Log-Linear Regression Models.3.7 Illustrations in More Complex Data Sets.3.8 Discrimination Among Parametric Models.3.9 Inference with Interval Censoring.3.10 Discussion.Bibliographic Notes.Exercises and Complements.4. Relative Risk (Cox) Regression Models.4.1 Introduction.4.2 Estimation of beta.4.3 Estimation of the Baseline Hazard or Survivor Function.4.4 Inclusion of Strata.4.5 Illustrations.4.6 Counting Process Formulas. 4.7 Related Topics on the Cox Model.4.8 Sampling from Discrete Models.Bibliographic Notes.Exercises and Complements.5. Counting Processes and Asymptotic Theory.5.1 Introduction.5.2 Counting Processes and Intensity Functions.5.3 Martingales.5.4 Vector-Valued Martingales.5.5 Martingale Central Limit Theorem.5.6 Asymptotics Associated with Chapter 1.5.7 Asymptotic Results for the Cox Model.5.8 Asymptotic Results for Parametric Models.5.9 Efficiency of the Cox Model Estimator.5.10 Partial Likelihood Filtration.Bibliographic Notes.Exercises and Complements.6. Likelihood Construction and Further Results.6.1 Introduction.6.2 Likelihood Construction in Parametric Models.6.3 Time-Dependent Covariates and Further Remarks on Likelihood Construction.6.4 Time Dependence in the Relative Risk Model.6.5 Nonnested Conditioning Events.6.6 Residuals and Model Checking for the Cox Model.Bibliographic Notes.Exercises and Complements.7. Rank Regression and the Accelerated Failure Time Model.7.1 Introduction.7.2 Linear Rank Tests.7.3 Development and Properties of Linear Rank Tests.7.4 Estimation in the Accelerated Failure Time Model.7.5 Some Related Regression Models.Bibliographic Notes.Exercises and Complements.8. Competing Risks and Multistate Models.8.1 Introduction.8.2 Competing Risks.8.3 Life-History Processes.Bibliographic Notes.Exercises and Complements.9. Modeling and Analysis of Recurrent Event Data.9.1 Introduction.9.2 Intensity Processes for Recurrent Events.9.3 Overall Intensity Process Modeling and Estimation.9.4 Mean Process Modeling and Estimation.9.5 Conditioning on Aspects of the Counting Process History.Bibliographic Notes.Exercises and Complements.10. Analysis of Correlated Failure Time Data.10.1 Introduction.10.2 Regression Models for Correlated Failure Time Data.10.3 Representation and Estimation of the Bivariate Survivor Function.10.4 Pairwise Dependency Estimation.10.5 Illustration: Australian Twin Data.10.6 Approaches to Nonparametric Estimation of the Bivariate Survivor Function.10.7 Survivor Function Estimation in Higher Dimensions.Bibliographic Notes.Exercises and Complements.11. Additional Failure Time Data Topics.11.1 Introduction.11.2 Stratified Bivariate Failure Time Analysis.11.3 Fixed Study Period Survival Studies.11.4 Cohort Sampling and Case-Control Studies.11.5 Missing Covariate Data.11.6 Mismeasured Covariate Data.11.7 Sequential Testing with Failure Time Endpoints.11.8 Bayesian Analysis of the Proportional Hazards Model.11.9 Some Analyses of a Particular Data Set.Bibliographic Notes.Exercises and Complements.Glossary of Notation.Appendix A: Some Sets of Data.Appendix B: Supporting Technical Material.Bibliography.Author Index.Subject Index.

TL;DR: The drum mallets disclosed in this article are adjustable, by the percussion player, as to balance, overall weight, head characteristics and tone production of the mallet, whereby the adjustment can be readily obtained.

TL;DR: Efficient methods of analysis of randomized clinical trials in which the authors wish to compare the duration of survival among different groups of patients are described.