Limitations of the Cox Proportional Hazards Model and Alternative Approaches in Metachronous Recurrence Research

The article by Shin et al. provides valuable insights into the correlation between the gastric mucosa-associated gastric microbiome (MAM) and metachronous recurrence. However, the use of the Cox proportional hazards model in their analysis presents several limitations. The study may result in mixed censoring outcomes, and the assumption of constant hazard ratios over time may not hold. Considering these limitations, future research should adopt alternative approaches, such as the accelerated failure time (AFT) model, to provide a more comprehensive understanding of the relationship between gastric MAM and metachronous recurrence.