Regression Trees for Censored Data

The regression-tree methodology is extended to right-censored response variables by replacing the conventional splitting rules with rules based on the Tarone-Ware or Harrington-Fleming classes of two-sample statistics. New pruning strategies for determining desirable tree size are also devised. Properties of this approach are developed and comparisons with existing procedures, in terms of practical problems, are discussed. Illustrative, real-world performances of the technique are presented.