PONE-D-24-15232Impact of different visceral metastatic sites on survival in metastatic prostate cancer patientsPLOS ONE

Dear Dr. Lai,

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PLOS ONE

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Reviewers' comments:

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Comments to the Author

1. Is the manuscript technically sound, and do the data support the conclusions?

The manuscript must describe a technically sound piece of scientific research with data that supports the conclusions. Experiments must have been conducted rigorously, with appropriate controls, replication, and sample sizes. The conclusions must be drawn appropriately based on the data presented.

Reviewer #1: Yes

Reviewer #2: Yes

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2. Has the statistical analysis been performed appropriately and rigorously?

Reviewer #1: Yes

Reviewer #2: Yes

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3. Have the authors made all data underlying the findings in their manuscript fully available?

The PLOS Data policy requires authors to make all data underlying the findings described in their manuscript fully available without restriction, with rare exception (please refer to the Data Availability Statement in the manuscript PDF file). The data should be provided as part of the manuscript or its supporting information, or deposited to a public repository. For example, in addition to summary statistics, the data points behind means, medians and variance measures should be available. If there are restrictions on publicly sharing data—e.g. participant privacy or use of data from a third party—those must be specified.

Reviewer #1: Yes

Reviewer #2: Yes

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4. Is the manuscript presented in an intelligible fashion and written in standard English?

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Reviewer #1: Yes

Reviewer #2: Yes

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5. Review Comments to the Author

Please use the space provided to explain your answers to the questions above. You may also include additional comments for the author, including concerns about dual publication, research ethics, or publication ethics. (Please upload your review as an attachment if it exceeds 20,000 characters)

Reviewer #1: The authors performed a very interesting analysis based on the work of Tappero et al. using the SEER databases. They successfully demonstrated that different metastatic sites serve as predictors of varying survival rates in patients with metastatic prostate cancer (PCa). The authors can boast a large population, solid methodology, and results that align with the previous work of Tappero, despite being based on a different population and database. The paper is well-written and easily readable. The tables and figures are well-crafted, presenting fundamental information without redundancy. I particularly appreciated the summary of median survival within the Kaplan-Meier analysis.

However, I have a few suggestions for improvement:

1. In the analysis of race/ethnicity, I recommend using the terms "African Americans" and "Caucasians" instead of "Black" and "White," respectively. Additionally, please note that "Black" was incorrectly reported as "Blake" in the summary.

2. I suggest adding the lack of information on the BRCA status of patients as a limitation.

3. Additionally, the absence of data on family history of PCa should be mentioned among the limitations.

4. The limitations should also include the absence of details regarding the modality of diagnosis and follow-up (i.e., CT scan, bone scintigraphy, PET-CT scan).

A major revision is required to address these points.

Reviewer #2: Authors' work is interesting. I read with pleasure the full manuscript, written in good English. It is noteworthy to implement the limitation section. Indeed, data regarding the primary diagnosis methodology, such as CT, PET should be added. With minor revision, the paper will be suitable for publication

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Reviewer #1: Yes: Nicola Longo

Reviewer #2: Yes: SIMONE MORRA

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Impact of different visceral metastatic sites on survival in metastatic prostate cancer patients

PONE-D-24-15232R1

Dear Dr. Lai,

We’re pleased to inform you that your manuscript has been judged scientifically suitable for publication and will be formally accepted for publication once it meets all outstanding technical requirements.

Within one week, you’ll receive an e-mail detailing the required amendments. When these have been addressed, you’ll receive a formal acceptance letter and your manuscript will be scheduled for publication.

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Kind regards,

Matteo Bauckneht

Academic Editor

PLOS ONE

Additional Editor Comments (optional):

Reviewers' comments:

Reviewer's Responses to Questions

Comments to the Author

1. If the authors have adequately addressed your comments raised in a previous round of review and you feel that this manuscript is now acceptable for publication, you may indicate that here to bypass the “Comments to the Author” section, enter your conflict of interest statement in the “Confidential to Editor” section, and submit your "Accept" recommendation.

Reviewer #2: All comments have been addressed

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2. Is the manuscript technically sound, and do the data support the conclusions?

The manuscript must describe a technically sound piece of scientific research with data that supports the conclusions. Experiments must have been conducted rigorously, with appropriate controls, replication, and sample sizes. The conclusions must be drawn appropriately based on the data presented.

Reviewer #2: Yes

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3. Has the statistical analysis been performed appropriately and rigorously?

Reviewer #2: Yes

**********

4. Have the authors made all data underlying the findings in their manuscript fully available?

The PLOS Data policy requires authors to make all data underlying the findings described in their manuscript fully available without restriction, with rare exception (please refer to the Data Availability Statement in the manuscript PDF file). The data should be provided as part of the manuscript or its supporting information, or deposited to a public repository. For example, in addition to summary statistics, the data points behind means, medians and variance measures should be available. If there are restrictions on publicly sharing data—e.g. participant privacy or use of data from a third party—those must be specified.

Reviewer #2: Yes

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5. Is the manuscript presented in an intelligible fashion and written in standard English?

PLOS ONE does not copyedit accepted manuscripts, so the language in submitted articles must be clear, correct, and unambiguous. Any typographical or grammatical errors should be corrected at revision, so please note any specific errors here.

Reviewer #2: Yes

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6. Review Comments to the Author

Please use the space provided to explain your answers to the questions above. You may also include additional comments for the author, including concerns about dual publication, research ethics, or publication ethics. (Please upload your review as an attachment if it exceeds 20,000 characters)

Reviewer #2: The authors exhaustively replied to all the concerns raised. Therefore, the manuscript is suitable in its current form

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7. PLOS authors have the option to publish the peer review history of their article (what does this mean?). If published, this will include your full peer review and any attached files.

If you choose “no”, your identity will remain anonymous but your review may still be made public.

Do you want your identity to be public for this peer review? For information about this choice, including consent withdrawal, please see our Privacy Policy.

Reviewer #2: Yes: SIMONE MORRA

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