Predicting Survival with Brain Metastases in the Stereotactic Radiosurgery Era: are Existing Prognostic Scores Still Relevant? Or Can we do Better?

Predicting survival is essential to tailoring treatment for patients diagnosed with brain metastases. We have evaluated the performance of widely used, validated prognostic scoring systems (Graded Prognostic Assessment and diagnosis-specific Graded Prognostic Assessment) in over 1000 'real-world' patients treated with stereotactic radiosurgery to the brain, selected according to National Health Service commissioning criteria. Survival outcomes from our dataset were consistent with those predicted by the prognostic systems, but with certain cancer subtypes showing a significantly better survival than predicted.

A population-scale temporal case-control evaluation of COVID-19 disease phenotype and related outcome rates in patients with cancer in England (UKCCP).

Patients with cancer are at increased risk of hospitalisation and mortality following severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection. However, the SARS-CoV-2 phenotype evolution in patients with cancer since 2020 has not previously been described. We therefore evaluated SARS-CoV-2 on a UK populationscale from 01/11/2020-31/08/2022, assessing case-outcome rates of hospital assessment(s), intensive care admission and mortality.

The National COVID Cancer Antibody Survey: a hyper-accelerated study proof of principle for cancer research.

The COVID-19 pandemic has led to a range of novel and adaptive research designs. In this perspective, we use our experience coordinating the National COVID Cancer Antibody Survey to demonstrate how a balance between speed and integrity can be achieved within a hyper-accelerated study design. Using the COVID-19 pandemic as an example, we show this approach is necessary in the face of uncertain and evolving situations wherein reliable information is needed in a timely fashion to guide policy.