Modelling longitudinal latent toxicity profiles evolution in osteosarcoma patient

Abstract

In cancer trials, the analysis of longitudinal chemotherapy data is a difficult task due to the complex registration and evolution of toxicity levels during treatment. Models to deal with both the longitudinal and the categorical aspects of toxicity level progression are necessary, still not well developed. In this work, a Latent Transition Analysis (LTA) procedure to identify and reconstruct the longitudinal latent profiles of toxicity evolution of each patient over time is proposed. The latent variables determining the progression of the observed toxicity levels can be thought of as the outcomes of an underlying latent process. This methodology has never been applied to osteosarcoma treatment and provides new insights for supporting decisions in childhood cancer therapy.