The concept of what today is MARCAP began in 2012. During residency, Dr. Spratt read a 2005 combined analysis from the RTOG and EORTC cooperative groups in Head and Neck Cancer that changed practice for patients around the world. However, despite the massive number of phase III randomized trials in prostate cancer, there was no such collaboration across trial groups. Although initially unsuccessful to bring together these cooperative groups as a resident, over the next decade he partnered with Dr. Kishan to make this vision a reality. Year over year more and more PIs and cooperative groups agreed to share data, and in 2020 MARCAP was officially formed, and the initial first series of meta-analyses were written and registered at PROSPERO.
Today, MARCAP has data from every single phase III radiotherapy randomized trial in localized prostate cancer assessing the use or duration of ADT that collected data on metastatic and survival outcomes. Data collection is ongoing for future projects across the prostate cancer disease spectrum.
MARCAP analyses are led by a team of biostatisticians from UCLA and Case Western Reserve University.
All meta-analyses have an a priori, or pre-specified, statistical analysis plan.
Randomized comparisons that leverage the benefit of meta-analysis are prioritized, and subgroup analyses are assessed using formal interaction tests.
Network meta-analyses that leverage randomized comparisons will also be prioritized, and assessed using both frequentist and Baysian approaches.
Non-randomized comparisons will be performed under rare circumstances, and clearly stated, when performed under the formal MARCAP consortium.
MARCAP Data Repository
University Hospitals Seidman Cancer Center
11100 Euclid Ave
Cleveland, OH 44106
UCLA Jonsson Cancer Center
200 Medical Plaza
Los Angeles, California 90095
