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median overall survival

(MEE-dee-un oh-ver-AWL ser-VY-vul)
The length of time from either the date of diagnosis or the start of treatment for a disease, such as cancer, that half of the patients in a group of patients diagnosed with the disease are still alive. In a clinical trial, measuring the median overall survival is one way to see how well a new treatment works. Also called median survival.
Search NCI's Dictionary of Cancer Terms