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The need to model a cure fraction, the proportion of a cohort not susceptible to the event of interest, arises in a variety of contexts including tumor relapse in oncology. Existing methodology assumes that follow-up is long enough for all uncured subjects to have experienced the event of interest at the time of analysis, and researchers have demonstrated that fitting cure models without sufficient follow-up leads to bias. Few statistical methods exist to evaluate sufficient follow-up, and they can exhibit poor performance and lead users to falsely conclude sufficient follow-up, leading to bias, or to falsely claim insufficient follow-up, possibly leading to additional, costly data collection. We propose a new quantitative statistic (RECeUS) to evaluate whether cure models may be appropriate to apply to censored data. Specifically, we propose that the estimated proportion of censored uncured subjects in a study can be used to evaluate cure model appropriateness. We evaluated the performance of RECeUS against existing methods via simulation and with two data examples, and we observe that RECeUS displays superior performance. In simulated and real-world settings, RECeUS correctly identifies both situations in which data appear appropriate for cure modeling and when data seem inappropriate for fitting cure models., (© 2022 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

Background: Given the increase in antimicrobial drug resistance of several pathogens that affect the ear, there is a need for alternative therapy for canine otitis externa (OE). We hypothesised that the efficacy of modified Burow's solution would be non-inferior to that of standard treatment with Surolan., Methods: The treatment success rate of a topical aluminum acetate 2% and betamethasone 0.1% (modified Burow's) otic solution was compared with that of a standard topical otic treatment of polymyxin B sulfate, prednisolone acetate and miconazole (Surolan) suspension in a prospective, open-label clinical trial. For 10 days, 142 dogs (232 ears) with OE were treated with modified Burow's solution or Surolan. The primary study endpoint was the cure rate at 10 days. Clinical efficacy was analysed as a secondary endpoint but without assessment for non-inferiority., Results: The 10-day OE cure rate was 65% and 59% in the Burow's and Surolan groups, respectively. The modified Burow's solution was non-inferior to Surolan at a non-inferiority margin of -11.5% and was more clinically effective than Surolan in dogs with OE caused by yeast or bacteria., Conclusion: The results of this study demonstrate that modified Burow's solution is an effective treatment for OE in dogs., (© 2022 British Veterinary Association.)

Background: After colorectal cancer (CRC) surgery, surveillance with colonoscopy is an important step for the early detection of local recurrence. Unfortunately, surveillance colonoscopy is underused, especially among racial/ethnic minorities. This study assesses the association between patient and neighborhood factors and receipt of surveillance colonoscopy., Methods: This retrospective, population-based cohort study used Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results-Medicare linked data (2009-2014). Beneficiaries with surgically resected stage II or III CRC between the ages of 66 and 85 years were identified, and multivariable logistic regression was used to assess the effect of factors on receipt of colonoscopy., Results: Overall, 57.5% of the patients received initial surveillance colonoscopy. After adjustments for all factors, Blacks and Hispanics had lower odds of receiving colonoscopy than non-Hispanic Whites (NHWs; 29.6% for Blacks; P = .002; 12.9% for Hispanics; P > .05). NHWs with Medicaid coverage had 35% lower odds of surveillance colonoscopy than NHWs without Medicaid coverage. Minority patients with Medicaid were more likely to receive colonoscopy than their racial/ethnic counterparts without Medicaid coverage (P > .05). Hispanics residing in neighborhoods with incomes of ≥$90,000 had significantly lower odds of surveillance colonoscopy than Hispanics residing in neighborhoods with incomes of $0 to $30,000., Conclusions: Receipt of initial surveillance colonoscopy remains low, and there are acute disparities between Black and NHW patients. The association between factors that assess a patient's ability to access colonoscopy and actual receipt of colonoscopy suggests inequitable access to surveillance colonoscopy within and across racial/ethnic groups., (© 2020 American Cancer Society.)