The Applied Biostatistics Association (TABA) invites you to a seminar and dinner:

Title: Insights from mixture cure modeling of molecular markers for prognosis in breast cancer

Presenter: Yildiz Yilmaz, PhD, Post-Doctoral Fellow in Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto & Samuel Lunenfeld Research Institute of Mount Sinai Hospital

Abstract:
With the ultimate aim of improving clinical management of breast cancer, investigators have sought to identify molecular genetic markers that stratify newly-diagnosed patients into subtypes that differ in short-term or long-term prognosis. Conventional survival models can fail to describe adequately the relationship between subtypes and disease recurrence, particularly when there is a substantial proportion of long-term disease-free survivors. The observed patterns of disease-free survival in an undifferentiated patient cohort may be explained by an underlying mixture of two subgroups: patients who will remain free of disease in the long term, that is “cured”, and those who will experience disease recurrence within their lifetime, that is “susceptible”. In this talk we review the concepts and methods of the mixture cure models, and apply them in the analysis of molecular genetic prognostic factors for disease-free survival and time to disease recurrence in a cohort of axillary lymph-node-negative breast cancer patients. This is a joint work with Drs. Shelley Bull, Jerry Lawless and Irene Andrulis.

When:  Thursday, December 13th, 2012
6-7 pm seminar
7 pm dinner (optional, but registration required)

Where:  Room 7-605, Princess Margaret Hospital, 610 University Avenue

Cost: Seminar – free
Dinner – $15  (students $5)

Please RSVP to TABA at taba.exec@google.com by or on Monday, December 10th if you plan to attend the seminar or the dinner (see dinner cancellation policy below).
If you plan to attend the dinner, please mail a cheque payable to TABA to
Lorinda Simms
Eli Lilly Canada Inc.
3650 Danforth Ave
Toronto, ON
M1N 2E8

If you have signed up for dinner, and have to cancel, we request a 48 hour notice.  Otherwise, TABA does have to pay for the dinner, and we will have to pass the cost back onto you.

TABA seminars are made possible thanks in part to generous donations from
McDougall Scientific Ltd.
If you would like to see your company name here as a sponsor, please contact Lorinda Simms or Ruth Croxford (taba.exec@gmail.com).

TABA executive:
Ruth Croxford
Marguerite Ennis
Lorinda Simms