Improved nonparametric estimation of the cure rate in mixture cure models using presmoothing

Abstract

[Abstract]: Survival analysis studies the time up to an event of interest assuming that all individuals will undergo the event. In some cases, the event may not happen for all subjects. This condition gives rise to cure models, where a subset of the individuals will experience the event and other part will never suffer it. Estimating the probability of experiencing the event is crucial in these situations. Presmoothing is a technique that improves the efficiency of nonparametric estimates in survival analysis and, therefore, in cure models. We propose to estimate the cure rate nonparametrically using presmoothing. Presmoothing depends on a smoothing parameter which must be chosen appropriately. To understand the effect of presmoothing on the estimation of the probability of cure, a simulation study was carried out. Finally, the methodology was applied to a dataset of breast cancer patients.