[Time-to-event endpoints--definitions and methodological issues].

: Time-to-event endpoint or survival time is the most important type of endpoint that is widely used in clinical cancer research. Understanding the principles of event definition, censoring and possible biases by competing risks is critical to obtain the unbiased estimates of time-to-event endpoints. The authors provide the standard definitions, characteristics, and pitfalls of several major time-to-event endpoints, such as overall survival, progression-free survival, relapse-free survival, disease-free survival, and time to treatment failure.