Nevertheless, as Hong Kong Chinese belong to the common "Han" ethnicity, the largest ethnic group in China and indeed, in the world [ 21, 22], this group constitutes a practical choice for initial documentation of Chinese craniofacial morphology.
Before a status of complete response (CR) or PR was assigned, the tumour measurements were confirmed by another scan no less than, and as close as possible to, 4 weeks following initial documentation of an objective response.
All patients with tumour responses (complete or partial response) received a confirmatory scan 4 weeks following the initial documentation.
All subjects with tumour responses (complete response (CR) and partial response (PR)) underwent a confirmatory scan 4 weeks following the initial documentation.
Response was assessed by the investigators based on modified RECIST guidelines, with complete and partial responses requiring confirmation by a repeat assessment at least 4 weeks after initial documentation of the response.
A partial response (PR) was defined as more than a 50% decrease in the sum of the products of the 2 largest perpendicular diameters of measurable lesions for at least 4 weeks, but a confirmation CT was not routinely performed 4 weeks after the initial documentation of PR.
All results were reviewed by an independent radiologist and had to be confirmed 28 days or more after initial documentation of the response.
This is also the case for elective patients undergoing the preassesment process before their scheduled surgery, where the initial documentation of the patient's medical problems is performed by an anaesthetist before the HS interviews the patient.
The best overall response for each patient was reported; all results were reviewed by an independent radiologist and had to be confirmed 28 days or more after initial documentation of the response.
Response duration was measured from the day of its initial documentation until PD; PFS was calculated from the date of treatment initiation until evidence of PD; OS was measured from the day of entry until last follow-up or death.
Additional scans were performed whenever disease progression was suspected, to confirm an objective response [partial response (PR) or complete response (CR)] ≥4 weeks after initial documentation of response, and at withdrawal from the study (if >6 weeks since the last assessment).
