A Bayesian hierarchical mixture model for platelet derived growth factor receptor phosphorylation to improve estimation of progression-free survival in prostate cancer.

Advances in understanding the biological underpinnings of many cancers have led increasingly to the use of molecularly targeted anti-cancer therapies. Because the platelet-derived growth factor receptor (PDGFR) has been implicated in the progression of prostate cancer bone metastases, it is of great interest to examine possible relationships between PDGFR inhibition and therapeutic outcomes. Here, we analyze the association between change in activated PDGFR (p-PDGFR) and progression free survival (PFS) time based on large within-patient samples of cell-specific p-PDGFR values taken before and after treatment from each of 88 prostate cancer patients. To utilize these paired samples as covariate data in a regression model for PFS time, and because the p-PDGFR distributions are bimodal, we first employ a Bayesian hierarchical mixture model to obtain a deconvolution of the pre-treatment and post-treatment within-patient p-PDGFR distributions. We evaluate fits of the mixture model and a non-mixture model that ignores the bimodality by using a supnorm metric to compare the empirical distribution of each p-PDGFR data set with the corresponding fitted distribution under each model. Our results show that first using the mixture model to account for the bimodality of the within-patient p-PDGFR distributions, and then using the posterior within-patient component mean changes in p-PDGFR so obtained as covariates in the regression model for PFS time provides an improved estimation.