The Ovarian dataset

Valerio Licursi
June 26, 2024

The ovarian dataset is included in the survival package



  • contains data from a clinical trial that studied the effects of two treatments on survival time in patients with advanced ovarian cancer.


description of the dataset:

Variables in the ovarian Dataset:

  • futime
  • fustat
  • age
  • resid.ds
  • rx
  • ecog.ps

1. futime:

  • Description: Survival time or the time until the last follow-up or death.
  • Type: Numeric (measured in days).

2. fustat:

  • Description: Censoring status indicator.
  • Type: Numeric (binary: 1 = dead, 0 = censored).

3. age:

  • Description: Age of the patient in years.
  • Type: Numeric.

4. resid.ds:

  • Description: Residual disease present after initial surgery.
  • Type: Numeric (binary: 1 = no, 2 = yes).

5. rx:

  • Description: Treatment received by the patient.
  • Type: Factor (1 = single-agent chemotherapy, 2 = combination chemotherapy).

6. ecog.ps:

  • Description: Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG) performance status, which measures the patient’s level of functioning.
  • Type: Numeric
    • 0 = good,
    • 1 = limited in strenuous activity but ambulatory,
    • 2 = capable of all self-care but unable to carry out any work activities.

Summary of the ovarian Dataset

The dataset consists of 26 observations and 6 variables. It provides information on the survival time and status of patients with advanced ovarian cancer who were treated with either single-agent or combination chemotherapy. The dataset also includes important prognostic factors such as age, residual disease status, and ECOG performance status.

Example Usage

Here is a basic example of how to load and inspect the ovarian dataset:

# Load the necessary package
library(survival)

# Load the ovarian dataset
data(ovarian)

# Inspect the first few rows of the dataset
head(ovarian)

This will display the first few rows of the dataset, showing the values for survival time, censoring status, age, residual disease status, treatment type, and ECOG performance status.

Reference for Further Information

For more detailed information about the ovarian dataset and its use in survival analysis, refer to the survival package documentation.