Advances in Cancer Survival Analysis

A special issue of Cancers (ISSN 2072-6694). This special issue belongs to the section "Cancer Survivorship and Quality of Life".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 December 2026 | Viewed by 206

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
1. Department of Cancer Prevention, Zhejiang Cancer Hospital, Hangzhou 310000, China
2. Hangzhou Institute of Medicine (HIM), Chinese Academy of Sciences, Hangzhou 310000, China
Interests: population-based evaluation of cancer prevention and early screening effectiveness (using the period method to provide timely and accurate 5-year relative survival); population-based prevention and control of cancers caused by asbestos exposure (malignant mesothelioma, lung cancer, etc.); molecular genetic epidemiology of familial tumours
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Guest Editor
Faculty of Health Sciences (FHS), University of Macau, Macau, China
Interests: cancer epidemiology; clinical epidemiology

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Guest Editor
Department of Clinical Research, The First Affiliated Hospital of Jinan University, Guangzhou 510632, China
Interests: clinical data mining; machine learning; clinical research on cardiovascular diseases

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

In recent years, the global cancer burden has risen sharply and is expected to continue increasing. Cancer survival is an essential indicator for the assessment of cancer burden, which reflects the level of cancer prevention and prognosis in specific regions, thus warranting focused research. However, timely and accurate evaluation of long-term survival of cancer patients remains a global technical problem. In addition, with recent advances in science and technology and the emergence of new diagnostic and therapeutic methods, there is a potential impact on cancer survival.

We are pleased to invite you to contribute to a Special Issue focusing on the analysis of cancer survival and associated factors affecting cancer survival.

This Special Issue aims to report on the most up-to-date cancer survival worldwide or in a certain area. It also seeks to further explore the relationship between emerging technologies, diagnostic and treatment methods, and other influencing factors with cancer survival.

In this Special Issue, original research articles and reviews are welcome. Research areas may include (but are not limited to) the following:

  • Reports on cancer survival worldwide or in certain areas;
  • Assessment of cancer survival using population-based cancer registration data;
  • New research advances in cancer survival;
  • Application of different analytical methods in cancer survival, e.g., the period approach;
  • The impact of new diagnostic and therapeutic approaches on cancer survival.

We look forward to receiving your contributions.

Prof. Dr. Tianhui (Thomas) Chen
Prof. Dr. Jianguang Ji
Prof. Dr. Jun Lyu
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Cancers is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2900 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • cancer burden
  • cancer survival
  • epidemiology
  • survival analysis methodology
  • cancer screening
  • cancer control
  • cancer prognosis
  • cancer data mining

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Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

15 pages, 972 KB  
Article
Impact of Response Assessment Intervals on Survival and Economic Burden in Long-Term Responders to Immunotherapy for Advanced Non-Small-Cell Lung Cancer
by Min Wang, Vannhong Soth, Xingzhu Liu, Yuxi Li, Xianyan Chen, Jianxin Xue and Youling Gong
Cancers 2025, 17(20), 3312; https://doi.org/10.3390/cancers17203312 - 14 Oct 2025
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Abstract
Background: Immunotherapy has emerged as a breakthrough for the treatment of advanced non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC), significantly improving patients’ progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS). However, the medical burden of response assessment has worsened for long-term maintenance therapy. It remains unclear whether [...] Read more.
Background: Immunotherapy has emerged as a breakthrough for the treatment of advanced non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC), significantly improving patients’ progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS). However, the medical burden of response assessment has worsened for long-term maintenance therapy. It remains unclear whether a specific response assessment interval could provide both survival benefits and cost savings. Methods: We retrospectively included patients with advanced NSCLC who underwent immunotherapy and achieved PFS > 12 months. We utilized propensity score matching (PSM) to reduce the selection bias. The survival outcomes were evaluated using the log-rank test and Cox proportional hazard models, while the economic impact was assessed through the performance of a cost minimization analysis (CMA). A medical expenditure extrapolation model was developed based on epidemiological statistics and data from clinical trials. Results: After PSM, a total of 376 patients were included. The survival difference was not significant [hazard ratio (HR) = 0.78, 95% confidence intervals (CIs) = 0.53–1.14; p = 0.200] between the 2-month response assessment group (n = 188) and the 3-month response assessment group (n = 188). Patients receiving immunotherapy alone and those with a positive PD-L1 expression experienced a significant survival benefit. Our extrapolation model projects that, annually, there will be approximately 7026 new long-term responders to immunotherapy in the United States. Adopting a 3-month assessment strategy could reduce annual healthcare expenditure by nearly USD 6 million. Conclusions: This study presented the first statistical evidence supporting a refined response assessment strategy for long-term responders to immunotherapy with advanced NSCLC. These findings support the adoption of a less frequent, yet equally effective, monitoring approach to make tumor surveillance more precise and cost-effective. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Cancer Survival Analysis)
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