A flexible family of transformation cure rate models.

In this paper, we introduce a flexible family of cure rate models, mainly motivated by the biological derivation of the classical promotion time cure rate model and assuming that a metastasis-competent tumor cell produces a detectable-tumor mass only when a specific number of distinct biological factors affect the cell. Special cases of the new model are, among others, the promotion time (proportional hazards), the geometric (proportional odds), and the negative binomial cure rate model. In addition, our model generalizes specific families of transformation cure rate models and some well-studied destructive cure rate models. Exact likelihood inference is carried out by the aid of the expectationŰmaximization algorithm; a profile likelihood approach is exploited for estimating the parameters of the model while model discrimination problem is analyzed by the aid of the likelihood ratio test. A simulation study demonstrates the accuracy of the proposed inferential method. Finally, as an illustration, we fit the proposed model to a cutaneous melanoma data-set. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.