Evidence-based personalised medicine in critical care: a framework for quantifying and applying individualised treatment effects in patients who are critically ill
- PMID: 40250459
- PMCID: PMC12362495
- DOI: 10.1016/S2213-2600(25)00054-2
Evidence-based personalised medicine in critical care: a framework for quantifying and applying individualised treatment effects in patients who are critically ill
Abstract
Clinicians aim to provide treatments that will result in the best outcome for each patient. Ideally, treatment decisions are based on evidence from randomised clinical trials. Randomised trials conventionally report an aggregated difference in outcomes between patients in each group, known as an average treatment effect. However, the actual effect of treatment on outcomes (treatment response) can vary considerably between individuals, and can differ substantially from the average treatment effect. This variation in response to treatment between patients-heterogeneity of treatment effect-is particularly important in critical care because common critical care syndromes (eg, sepsis and acute respiratory distress syndrome) are clinically and biologically heterogeneous. Statistical approaches have been developed to analyse heterogeneity of treatment effect and predict individualised treatment effects for each patient. In this Review, we outline a framework for deriving and validating individualised treatment effects and identify challenges to applying individualised treatment effect estimates to inform treatment decisions in clinical care.
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Conflict of interest statement
Declaration of interests ESM reports grant funding from the US National Institutes of Health (NIH; grant numbers T32HL007749, F32HL172463, and L30HL170379). AS reports grants through her institution from NIH (National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute [NHLBI] grant number R01HL157262-02 and National Institute of General Medical Sciences [NIGMS] grant number R01GM123193) and US Department of Defense (DOD; grant number PRMRP W81XWH-21-1-0009). EGL received grant funding from NIH (grant numbers T155T15LM007359 and NHLBI R01HL157262). MU received funding from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) and the Interdepartmental Division of Critical Care Medicine at the University of Toronto (ON, Canada). DCA received grant funding from NIH (grant number NIGMS R01GM141081); and personal fees from Abionyx, AM-Pharma, Bayer, Inotrem, and Spectral. VT, DCA, and FS receive grant funding from NIH (grant number R01GM141081). LDB reports being on the advisory board of Sobi NL, Impentri, Novartis, AstraZeneca, and CSL Behring; received grant funding (via institution) from Volition and Santhera; received grant funding from Longfonds, Innovative Medicine Initiative, Amsterdam University Medical Center, Health Holland via Longfond, and ZonMw; and received personal fees (via institution) from Scailyte. KGB received grant funding from NIH–NHLBI (grant number T32HL007605). CSC is a council member of the International Sepsis Forum; reports grants through her institution from NIH, Roche Genentech, and Quantum Leap Healthcare; received personal fees from Vasomune, Gen1e Life Sciences, NGM Bio, Cellenkos, Calcimedica, Arrowhead, EnliTISA, and Novartis; has a patent on metagenomic sequencing for sepsis diagnosis issued through the Regents of the University of California (CA, USA) and Chan Zuckerberg BioHub; and was supported by an NHLBI grant (R35HL140026). LDS reports grant funding through his institution from the Canadian Mount Sinai Hospital University Health Network Academic Medical Organization Innovation Fund and CIHR; and has applied for a patent for biomarkers for detecting of outcome or risk of patients with a respiratory illness. AG received grant funding through his institution from Sygeforsikringen “danmark”, the Novo Nordisk Foundation, and the Independent Research Fund Denmark for other projects. AH reports grant funding as Canada Research Chair in Statistical Design and from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada. MOH received grant funding from NIH (grant numbers U01HL168419 and R01HL168202); and personal fees from Elsevier, the American Thoracic Society, Unlearn.AI, and Guidepoint. CJ reports grant funding from the CIHR; and a postdoctoral fellowship awarded by the StatLab at the Centre de Recherches Mathématique. PRL received financial support from the Fonds de Recherche de Quebec. FL reports grant funding from NIH–NHLBI (grant number R01HL168202) and the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI; ME-2020C3-21072, ME-2020C1-19220, and ME-2022C2-27676); and has received personal fees from PCORI as a consultant. AM reports grant funding from NIH (grant number 1K23GM150110) and the American College of Surgeons. DFM reports personal fees for consultancy for acute respiratory distress syndrome from GlaxoSmithKline, Boehringer Ingelheim, Novartis, Bayer, Aptarion, Direct Biologics, Eli Lilly, Sobi, and Aviceda; and personal fees for sitting on a data and safety monitoring board (DSMB) from Vir Biotechnology and Faron Pharmaceuticals; his institution has received funds from grants from the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR), Wellcome Trust, UK Medical Research Council, Innovate UK, Randox, Novavax, and Northern Ireland Health and Social Care R&D Division, all unrelated to this work; has a patent (issued to institution) for a treatment for acute respiratory distress syndrome; and is NIHR Scientific Director for Research Programmes. AP received grant funding through his institution from the Novo Nordisk Foundation, Sygeforsikringen, and the Independent Research Fund Denmark. HCP reports being on the DSMB of the AID-ICU trial and SMARA trial; is co-chair of the Surviving Sepsis Campaign Guidelines; and received grants from the NIH–NHLBI, Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, US Veterans Affairs, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan, and US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. ASS reports personal fees for speaking, or consultancy from Draeger Medical, Predicate, SafeBVM, SaNOtize, Sensory Cloud, and Stimit; sits on the Board of Thornhill Medical and De Motu Cordis; chairs the DSMBs of the PREVENT VILI (NIH-sponsored), RheSolve (Galvanize Therapeutics), and BREATHE-3 (Apreo Health) trials; and reports shares in Thornhill Medical, De Motu Cordis, Signal 1, SafeBVM, and Sensory Cloud. SS received grant funding through her institution from the NIH–NHLBI and DOD; and personal fees from Getinge. MS reports financial support from her tier 2 Canada Research Chair in Causal Inference and Machine Learning. KPS received grant funding from the NIH–NHLBI (grant number T32HL087738). FGZ received personal fees from Baxter Hospitalar. RZ received grant funding from the CIHR, Research Manitoba, and Octapharma. EF is supported by grants from the CIHR; and reports personal fees for speaking or consultancy from Aerogen, ALung Technologies, Baxter, Boehringer Ingelheim, Getinge, Inspira, Mallinckrodt, and Vasomune. MC received grant funding through his institution from the NIH–NHLBI (grant number R01HL157262-02), NIH–National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive Kidney Diseases (grant number R01DK126933A-01), NIH–NIGMS (grant numbers R35-13362546 and R01GM123193), and the DOD (grant number PRMRP W81XWH-21-1-0009); has a patent issued for a risk stratification algorithm (eCART) and receives royalties through his institution. ECG receives salary support and operating grant funds from the National Sanitarium Association; received grants from the CIHR; reports personal fees for speaking or consultancy from Getinge, Vyaire, Lungpacer, Stimit, Bioage, Heecap, Baxter, Zoll, and Drager; is on the advisory board of Getinge, Lungpacer, and Heecap; is on the DSMB of HiOX-SR; and received grant funding through his institution from the CIHR and National Sanitarium Association. All other authors declare no competing interests.
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