Joint Models for Longitudinal and Survival Data

Abstract

Joint models for survival and longitudinal data have recently become quite popular in cancer and AIDS clinical trials, where a longitudinal biologic marker such as CD4 count or immune response can be an important predictor of survival. Often in clinical trials where the primary endpoint is time to an event, patients are also monitored longitudinally with respect to one or more biologic endpoints throughout the follow-up period. This may be done by taking immunologic or virologic measures in the case of infectious diseases or perhaps with a questionnaire assessing the quality of life after receiving a particular treatment. Often these longitudinal measures are incomplete or may be prone to measurement error. These measurements are also important because they may be predictive of survival. Therefore methods which can model both the longitudinal and the survival components jointly are becoming increasingly essential in most cancer and AIDS clinical trials.