RARtool: A MATLAB Software Package for Designing Response-Adaptive Randomized Clinical Trials with Time-to-Event Outcomes

J Stat Softw. 2015 Aug 1;66(1):https://www.jstatsoft.org/article/view/v066i01. doi: 10.18637/jss.v066.i01.

Abstract

Response-adaptive randomization designs are becoming increasingly popular in clinical trial practice. In this paper, we present RARtool, a user interface software developed in MATLAB for designing response-adaptive randomized comparative clinical trials with censored time-to-event outcomes. The RARtool software can compute different types of optimal treatment allocation designs, and it can simulate response-adaptive randomization procedures targeting selected optimal allocations. Through simulations, an investigator can assess design characteristics under a variety of experimental scenarios and select the best procedure for practical implementation. We illustrate the utility of our RARtool software by redesigning a survival trial from the literature.

Keywords: MATLAB; adaptive design; censored data; delayed responses; multi-objective clinical trial; optimal allocation; response-adaptive randomization; survival trial.