Identification and efficacy of longitudinal markers for survival

Methods for the combined analysis of survival time and longitudinal biomarker data have been developed in recent years, with most emphasis on modelling and estimation. This paper focuses on the use of longitudinal marker trajectories as individual-level surrogates for survival. A score test for association which requires only standard methods for implementation is derived for the initial identification of candidate biomarkers. Methods for assessing efficacy of markers are discussed and a measure contrasting conditional and marginal distributions is proposed. An application using prothrombin index as biomarker for survival of liver cirrhosis patients is included.