Reviewer's report
Title:Clinicopathologic characteristics and treatment outcomes of hepatoid
adenocarcinoma of stomach, a rare but unique subtype of gastric cancer
Version: 3Date:31 March 2011
Reviewer: John H Kalbfleisch
Reviewer's report:
These comments follow a request for statistical review.
Major Compulsory Revisions – none.
Minor Essential Revisions – none.
Discretionary Revisions
(1) Figures 2 and 3. The vertical upticks (5 in Fig 2, 8 in Fig 3) typically represent
censored observations (cases not achieving the target outcome - there are
several reasons this happens). In the Figure legend or in the Methods Section,
the authors can consider mentioning what these marks on the survival trend
signify.
(2) Figures 2-5. In figure grid the survival-key(s) can be removed since the figure
legends clearly explain the variation of survival that the K-M trend describes.
(3) Page 9, line 9. Relapse-free median survival (insert ‘median’ before ‘survival’)
(4) Figure 3 and related text on page 9. The authors can mention the P-level from
the comparison of survival trends of the two groups. The biggest difference
seems to occurr in the first 12 months and survival beyond 12 months looks
similar for the two groups. If the two survival trends in Figure 3 are statistically
compared, in the Methods Section the authors need to identify the method used
for this analysis. Also, the method used to determine 95% confidence intervals
for median survival can be clearly indicated in the Methods Section.
Level of interest: An article whose findings are important to those with closely
related research interests
Quality of written English: Acceptable
Statistical review: Yes, and I have assessed the statistics in my report.
Declaration of competing interests:
I declare that I have no competing interests. John H. Kalbfleisch, Ph.D.
Reviewer's report
Title:Clinicopathologic characteristics and treatment outcomes of hepatoid
adenocarcinoma of stomach, a rare but unique subtype of gastric cancer
Version: 3Date:31 March 2011
Reviewer: John H Kalbfleisch
Reviewer's report:
These comments follow a request for statistical review.
Major Compulsory Revisions – none.
Minor Essential Revisions – none.
Discretionary Revisions
(1) Figures 2 and 3. The vertical upticks (5 in Fig 2, 8 in Fig 3) typically represent
censored observations (cases not achieving the target outcome - there are
several reasons this happens). In the Figure legend or in the Methods Section,
the authors can consider mentioning what these marks on the survival trend
signify.
(2) Figures 2-5. In figure grid the survival-key(s) can be removed since the figure
legends clearly explain the variation of survival that the K-M trend describes.
(3) Page 9, line 9. Relapse-free median survival (insert ‘median’ before ‘survival’)
(4) Figure 3 and related text on page 9. The authors can mention the P-level from
the comparison of survival trends of the two groups. The biggest difference
seems to occurr in the first 12 months and survival beyond 12 months looks
similar for the two groups. If the two survival trends in Figure 3 are statistically
compared, in the Methods Section the authors need to identify the method used
for this analysis. Also, the method used to determine 95% confidence intervals
for median survival can be clearly indicated in the Methods Section.
Level of interest: An article whose findings are important to those with closely
related research interests
Quality of written English: Acceptable
Statistical review: Yes, and I have assessed the statistics in my report.
Declaration of competing interests:
I declare that I have no competing interests. John H. Kalbfleisch, Ph.D.
Please review this paper.
user
Reviewer's report
Title:Clinicopathologic characteristics and treatment outcomes of hepatoid
adenocarcinoma of stomach, a rare but unique subtype of gastric cancer
Version: 3Date:31 March 2011
Reviewer: John H Kalbfleisch
Reviewer's report:
These comments follow a request for statistical review.
Major Compulsory Revisions – none.
Minor Essential Revisions – none.
Discretionary Revisions
(1) Figures 2 and 3. The vertical upticks (5 in Fig 2, 8 in Fig 3) typically represent
censored observations (cases not achieving the target outcome - there are
several reasons this happens). In the Figure legend or in the Methods Section,
the authors can consider mentioning what these marks on the survival trend
signify.
(2) Figures 2-5. In figure grid the survival-key(s) can be removed since the figure
legends clearly explain the variation of survival that the K-M trend describes.
(3) Page 9, line 9. Relapse-free median survival (insert ‘median’ before ‘survival’)
(4) Figure 3 and related text on page 9. The authors can mention the P-level from
the comparison of survival trends of the two groups. The biggest difference
seems to occurr in the first 12 months and survival beyond 12 months looks
similar for the two groups. If the two survival trends in Figure 3 are statistically
compared, in the Methods Section the authors need to identify the method used
for this analysis. Also, the method used to determine 95% confidence intervals
for median survival can be clearly indicated in the Methods Section.
Level of interest: An article whose findings are important to those with closely
related research interests
Quality of written English: Acceptable
Statistical review: Yes, and I have assessed the statistics in my report.
Declaration of competing interests:
I declare that I have no competing interests. John H. Kalbfleisch, Ph.D.
assistant