Defining Utility as a Measure of Preference Under Uncertainty in Phase I– II Oncology Dose Finding Trials

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Auteurs principaux: Andrew Hall, Duncan Wilson, Stuart Barber, Sarah R. Brown
Format: Artículo Open Access
Publié: Wiley 2026
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author Andrew Hall
Duncan Wilson
Stuart Barber
Sarah R. Brown
author_facet Andrew Hall
Duncan Wilson
Stuart Barber
Sarah R. Brown
Andrew Hall
Duncan Wilson
Stuart Barber
Sarah R. Brown
collection Wiley Open Access
contents Defining Utility as a Measure of Preference Under Uncertainty in Phase I– II Oncology Dose Finding Trials Andrew Hall Duncan Wilson Stuart Barber Sarah R. Brown Statistics in Medicine ABSTRACT The main objective of dose finding trials is to find an optimal dose amongst a candidate set for further research. The trial design in oncology proceeds in stages with a decision as to how to treat the next group of patients made at every stage until a final sample size is reached or the trial stopped early. This work applies a Bayesian decision‐theoretic approach to the problem, proposing a new utility function based on both efficacy and toxicity and grounded in von Neumann‐Morgenstern (VNM) utility theory. Our proposed framework seeks to better capture real clinical judgments by allowing attitudes to risk to vary when the judgments are of gains or losses, which are defined with respect to an intermediate outcome known as a reference point. We call this method Reference Dependent Decision Theoretic dose finding (R2DT). A simulation study demonstrates that the framework can perform well and produce good operating characteristics. The simulation results demonstrate that R2DT is better at detecting the optimal dose in scenarios where candidate doses are around minimum acceptable efficacy and maximum acceptable toxicity thresholds. The proposed framework shows that a flexible utility function, which better captures clinician beliefs, can lead to trials with good operating characteristics, including a high probability of finding the optimal dose. Our work demonstrates proof‐of‐concept for this framework, which should be evaluated in a broader range of settings. 10.1002/sim.70547 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
doi_str_mv 10.1002/sim.70547
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id wiley_oa_10_1002_sim_70547
institution Wiley Open Access
license_str_mv http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
publishDate 2026
publisher Wiley
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spellingShingle Defining Utility as a Measure of Preference Under Uncertainty in Phase I– II Oncology Dose Finding Trials
Andrew Hall
Duncan Wilson
Stuart Barber
Sarah R. Brown
Statistics in Medicine
Defining Utility as a Measure of Preference Under Uncertainty in Phase I– II Oncology Dose Finding Trials Andrew Hall Duncan Wilson Stuart Barber Sarah R. Brown Statistics in Medicine ABSTRACT The main objective of dose finding trials is to find an optimal dose amongst a candidate set for further research. The trial design in oncology proceeds in stages with a decision as to how to treat the next group of patients made at every stage until a final sample size is reached or the trial stopped early. This work applies a Bayesian decision‐theoretic approach to the problem, proposing a new utility function based on both efficacy and toxicity and grounded in von Neumann‐Morgenstern (VNM) utility theory. Our proposed framework seeks to better capture real clinical judgments by allowing attitudes to risk to vary when the judgments are of gains or losses, which are defined with respect to an intermediate outcome known as a reference point. We call this method Reference Dependent Decision Theoretic dose finding (R2DT). A simulation study demonstrates that the framework can perform well and produce good operating characteristics. The simulation results demonstrate that R2DT is better at detecting the optimal dose in scenarios where candidate doses are around minimum acceptable efficacy and maximum acceptable toxicity thresholds. The proposed framework shows that a flexible utility function, which better captures clinician beliefs, can lead to trials with good operating characteristics, including a high probability of finding the optimal dose. Our work demonstrates proof‐of‐concept for this framework, which should be evaluated in a broader range of settings. 10.1002/sim.70547 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
title Defining Utility as a Measure of Preference Under Uncertainty in Phase I– II Oncology Dose Finding Trials
topic Statistics in Medicine
url https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/sim.70547