Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jul 3, 2026

Proton Therapy Delivery and Its Clinical Application in Select Solid Tumor Malignancies
Published on: February 6, 2019
Estimation and extrapolation of optimal treatment and testing strategies
James Robins1, Liliana Orellana, Andrea Rotnitzky
1Department of Epidemiology, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA. robins@hsph.harvard.edu
Abstract:
We review recent developments in the estimation of an optimal treatment strategy or regime from longitudinal data collected in an observational study. We also propose novel methods for using the data obtained from an observational database in one health-care system to determine the optimal treatment regime for biologically similar subjects in a second health-care system when, for cultural, logistical, or financial reasons, the two health-care systems differ (and will continue to differ) in the frequency of, and reasons for, both laboratory tests and physician visits. Finally, we propose a novel method for estimating the optimal timing of expensive and/or painful diagnostic or prognostic tests. Diagnostic or prognostic tests are only useful in so far as they help a physician to determine the optimal dosing strategy, by providing information on both the current health state and the prognosis of a patient because, in contrast to drug therapies, these tests have no direct causal effect on disease progression. Our new method explicitly incorporates this no direct effect restriction.
Related Concept Videos
Methods of Medium Optimization
Dosage Regimens: Partial Pharmacokinetic Parameters
Types of Biopharmaceutical Studies: Controlled and Non-Controlled Approaches
Non-controlled studies, commonly employed for initial exploration, lack a control group, rendering them susceptible to biases and external influences. In contrast, controlled...
Dose Size and Dosing Frequency: Determination Methods
Dosage Regimens: Designs and Approaches
Pharmacokinetic Models: Comparison and Selection Criterion
Physiological models take a detailed approach by considering specific molecular processes. They can predict drug distribution, metabolism, and elimination changes, providing a comprehensive understanding of how drugs interact with the body.