PONE-D-24-37580Comprehensive analysis of prostate cancer life expectancy, loss of life expectancy, and healthcare expenditures: Taiwan national cohort study spanning 2008 to 2019PLOS ONE

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PLOS ONE

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Reviewers' comments:

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Reviewer #1: Yes

Reviewer #2: Yes

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

Reviewer #1: I Don't Know

Reviewer #2: Yes

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Reviewer #1: Yes

Reviewer #2: Yes

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Reviewer #1: Yes

Reviewer #2: Yes

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5. Review Comments to the Author

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Reviewer #1: The authors reported the real-world and long-term follow-up evidence of PCa life expectancy, loss of life expectancy, and healthcare expenditures in the Taiwan region, emphasizing that early detection of PCa may save life expectancy and decrease the total cost. This study contains potential value on clinical applications and solving public health problems for Taiwan residents. However, several minor issues need to be addressed before acceptance:

1. In lines 51-52 the authors mentioned “the healthcare cost of synchronous metastatic PCa in all age groups is higher than the average cost for PCa patients”. But I couldn’t find the data that indicate the average cost for non-synchronous metastatic PCa in the tables. Please present this part of data in an appropriate way.

2. I recommend the authors draw figures to better illustrate the noteworthy variations in loss of life expectancy, as previous similar studies (PMID: 37152349) (PMID: 33295139) showed.

3. More recent references are required in the manuscript.

Reviewer #2: Dear Authors,

Thank you for submitting your manuscript. This study presents an insightful analysis of prostate cancer (PCa) in Taiwan, and I appreciate the opportunity to review it. Below are my comments and suggestions for improvement:

Abstract:

- In the statement, “The loss of LE in the three groups is 13.63, 6.75, and 3.87 years, respectively,” it is unclear whether this refers to the three risk categories or the three age groups. Please clarify.

- Regarding the sentence, “The healthcare cost of synchronous metastatic PCa in all age groups is higher than the average cost for PCa patients in Taiwan,” I suggest including some brief data to support this statement.

Materials and Methods:

- The staging of PCa is not mentioned. Did you use the D’Amico classification, the NCCN classification, or another system? Additionally, how did you group the patients into the four-stage categories?

Thank you again for your valuable work and for allowing me to review your manuscript.

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Reviewer #1: No

Reviewer #2: Yes:  Bignante Gabriele, MD

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Comprehensive analysis of prostate cancer life expectancy, loss of life expectancy, and healthcare expenditures: Taiwan national cohort study spanning 2008 to 2019

PONE-D-24-37580R1

Dear Dr. Ou,

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.

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Kind regards,

Po-Fan Hsieh

Academic Editor

PLOS ONE