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Main Authors: Xu, Yang, Lu, Wenbin, Song, Rui
Format: Preprint
Published: 2026
Subjects:
Online Access:https://arxiv.org/abs/2604.20296
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author Xu, Yang
Lu, Wenbin
Song, Rui
author_facet Xu, Yang
Lu, Wenbin
Song, Rui
contents Survival analysis is a widely used statistical framework for modeling time-to-event data under censoring. Classical methods, such as the Cox proportional hazards (Cox PH) model, offer a semiparametric approach to estimating the effects of covariates on the hazard function. Despite its importance, survival analysis has been largely unexplored in online settings, particularly within the bandit framework, where decisions must be made sequentially to optimize treatments as new data arrive over time. In this work, we take an initial step toward integrating survival analysis into a purely online learning setting under the Cox PH model, addressing key challenges including staggered entry, delayed feedback, and right censoring. We adapt three canonical bandit algorithms to balance exploration and exploitation, with theoretical guarantees of sublinear regret bounds. Extensive simulations and semi-real experiments using SEER cancer data demonstrate that our approach enables rapid and effective learning of near-optimal treatment policies.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2604_20296
institution arXiv
publishDate 2026
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Online Survival Analysis: A Bandit Approach under Cox PH Model
Xu, Yang
Lu, Wenbin
Song, Rui
Machine Learning
Survival analysis is a widely used statistical framework for modeling time-to-event data under censoring. Classical methods, such as the Cox proportional hazards (Cox PH) model, offer a semiparametric approach to estimating the effects of covariates on the hazard function. Despite its importance, survival analysis has been largely unexplored in online settings, particularly within the bandit framework, where decisions must be made sequentially to optimize treatments as new data arrive over time. In this work, we take an initial step toward integrating survival analysis into a purely online learning setting under the Cox PH model, addressing key challenges including staggered entry, delayed feedback, and right censoring. We adapt three canonical bandit algorithms to balance exploration and exploitation, with theoretical guarantees of sublinear regret bounds. Extensive simulations and semi-real experiments using SEER cancer data demonstrate that our approach enables rapid and effective learning of near-optimal treatment policies.
title Online Survival Analysis: A Bandit Approach under Cox PH Model
topic Machine Learning
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2604.20296