Good afternoon,
I am interested in conducting a meta-analysis of overall survival (OS) in two clinical trials using the restricted mean survival time (RMST) method, as well as performing subgroup meta-analyses using conventional methods.
To perform the RMST analysis, I need to digitize the survival curves (Kaplan-Meier) from research papers (WebPlotDigitizer - Copyright 2010-2022 Ankit Rohatgi) and calculate the RMST. While I have a tutorial on how to do this, I am unsure if I am doing it correctly, so I would greatly appreciate your expertise in confirming its accuracy.
The main reason for choosing the RMST approach is that the survival curves do not exhibit a clear proportional hazards (PH) behavior. The relevant papers with DOIs are: DOI: 10.1056/EVIDoa2200015 and DOI: 10.1016/S0140-6736(23)00727-4.
We sincerely appreciate your kind help and recommendations.
My focus on RMST revolves around the understanding of the impact of immunotherapy on HCC. Similar to other tumors, the trials showed very late splitting curves, with most of them reporting the hazard ratio (HR) and using benchmark analysis. Interpreting the curves and the overall effect is challenging. Therefore, I would like to know if you consider evaluating the RMST to better understand the benefit between arms, and if a meta-analysis of RMST could be valuable in gaining deeper insights.
Thank you for your consideration.
Sincerely,
Eze