METHODOLOGY IN CANCER CLINICAL TRIALS

THE TECHNICAL PROBLEM ADDRESSED BY THIS PROJECT IS THE DEVELOPMENT OF INTERACTIVE SOFTWARE FOR STATE-OF-THE-ART STATISTICAL METHODOLOGY APPLICABLE TO CANCER CLINICAL TRIALS. THE SPECIFIC OBJECTIVE IS TO USE TOOLS AVAILABLE IN THE SAS SYSTEM FOR MICROCOMPUTERS TO PACKAGE THE EXISTINGSOFTWARE IN SUCH A WAY THAT THE ANALYST CAN MOVE QUICKLY ANDINTERACTIVELY FROM GRAPHICAL DATA DISPLAYS AND MODEL FORMULATION TO GRAPHICAL MODEL CHECKING AND MODEL VALIDATION. TO MEET THIS OBJECTIVE, TAKIMA WEST CORPORATIONWILL CRITICALLY EXAMINE THS USE OF THE SAS MACRO LANGUAGE, THE DISPLAY MANAGER, THE PROCEDURE MENU SYSTEM, AND THE SAS AF PRODUCT. RESEARCHERS WILL ALSO STUDY HOW INDIVIDUAL PRO-CEDURES CAN BE MADE MORE INTERACTIVE. DURING THIS PHASE I PROJECT, THE SAS DEVELOPMENT TOOLS WILL BE SELECTED. DESIGNOF HOW THESE TOOLS SHOULD BE USED WILL BE PREPARED IN A PHASE II STUDY. THIS PROJECT WILL ALLOW RESEARCHERS TO ANALYZE DATA MORE QUICKLY AND THOROUGHLY THAN CAN BE DONE ATPRESENT. BETTER MODEL FORMULATION, MORE ACCURATE INFERENCES, AND EASIER INTERPRETATION OF STATISTICAL ANALYSES ARE THE FINAL GOALS OF THESE EFFORTS.