ABSTRACT
Introduction After several years with progress in imaging and new technologies, the clinical management of cancer patients has improved. Classically, treatment evaluation includes clinical examination, imaging, and nonimaging tests. The objectives of this evaluation are to determine the clinical benefit and to establish management strategies in a multidisciplinary and cohesive approach. In this respect it is essential to identify adequate criteria for antitumor activity in order to improve standard treatment and interpretation of trials. With expanding knowledge of molecular and cellular mechanisms underlying the malignant transformation this becomes a challenging quest. Strategy of assessment differs according to tumor type and stage of disease, but the aim remains ultimately the overall survival as clinical benefit. Unfortunately, this is only achieved in the long term and therefore other surrogate endpoints like progression-free survival, time to progression, and response rate are used to rapidly demonstrate the therapeutic effect.
