Association of a Shortened Duration of Adjuvant Chemotherapy With Overall Survival Among Individuals With Stage III Colon Cancer

Abstract

Key Points Question Are disparities between findings of observational studies and randomized clinical trials regarding the association between a shortened duration of adjuvant chemotherapy and overall survival among individuals with stage III colon cancer attributable to methodological issues? Findings This comparative effectiveness study of 485 individuals based on the explicit emulation of a target trial resulted in estimates that were similar in magnitude to those of a well-conducted randomized clinical trial. In contrast, estimates from a routine observational analysis conducted on the same data set were meaningfully different. Meaning These findings suggest that the explicit emulation of a target trial can better approximate findings from an analogous randomized clinical trial when conducting comparative efficacy research using real-world data.