© 2003 by Oxford University Press
Journal of the National Cancer Institute, Vol. 95, No. 7, 511-515,
April 2, 2003
© 2003 Oxford University Press
COMMENTARY |
The Central Role of Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) Curves in Evaluating Tests for the Early Detection of Cancer
Correspondence to: Stuart G. Baker, Sc.D., Biometry Research Group, National Cancer Institute, EPN 3131, 6130 Executive Blvd., MSC 7354, Bethesda, MD 20892-7354 (e-mail: sb16i@nih.gov).
| The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below. |
Cancer screening involves early detection coupled with early intervention. For cancer screening to reduce cancer mortality, the cancer must be detected sufficiently early and the early intervention must be effective. For cancer screening to minimize harms, the cancers detected early should, to the extent possible, exclude cancers that would not cause medical problems in a person’s lifetime (a phenomenon known as overdiagnosis). Detection of overdiagnosed cancers leads to unnecessary work-ups, biopsies, and treatment. The gold standard for evaluating benefits and harms of cancer screening is a randomized controlled trial (1).
Recently, with enthusiasm over advances in biomarker and imaging technology, early detection of cancer has taken a more prominent role in cancer research. Although the performance evaluation of early detection tests is only one component in evaluating cancer screening (and good performance of an early detection test does not necessarily translate into a reduction in cancer mortality), it
OVERVIEW OF ROC CURVES FOR EVALUATING TESTS FOR THE EARLY DETECTION OF CANCER
ROC CURVES FOR BIOMARKERS
ROC Curves for Gene Expression Microarrays
ROC Curves for Proteomic Patterns
ROC Curves Based on Stored Samples
ROC CURVES FOR SUBJECTIVE RATINGS
Identifying Variables That Affect Performance
Comparing Screening Modalities
CONCLUSION
Correspondence about this Article
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J Natl Cancer Inst 2005 97: 234-235.
J Natl Cancer Inst 2005 97: 235.
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