Assessment of local tumor control using censored tumor response data.

When animals die in the course of tumor control assays, the loss of information need not be absolute. Actuarial survival curves may be used to estimate local tumor control fractions, and these unbiased estimates may be weighted and used to estimate the parameters of dose/cure functions. The current standard procedure of discarding from analysis animals who do not complete a pre-assigned observation period is biased, and should not be used.