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intsurv

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R package intsurv by wenjie2wang — release notes from GitHub.

github.com/wenjie2wang/intsurv ↗

A Cox cure-rate model package woke up after four years to simplify its own interface.

survival-analysiscure-modelscensored-dataregularizationr-package
◆Current state
intsurv fits Cox cure rate models for right-censored survival data where event status may be uncertain — the case where you cannot tell whether a subject experienced the event or was never susceptible to it. The core has been stable since 2019: cox_cure() and its regularized counterpart cox_cure_net(), plus a weighted concordance index and a data simulator. After more than four years without a release, version 0.3.0 arrived in September 2025 and restructured how those two functions are configured rather than adding capability.
◆Where it's heading
The package has reached the point where the methods are settled and the remaining work is ergonomics. Moving control parameters, M-step settings and penalty specification into cox_cure.control(), cox_cure.mstep() and cox_cure_net.penalty() follows the established R convention of separating tuning from the model formula, and it arrives long after the arguments accumulated. The C++ headers were placed in inst/include as early as 2019 so other packages could link against them, which suggests the implementation was always intended to be reused.
◆Prediction
The gap between 0.2.2 and 0.3.0 makes cadence a poor basis for prediction. What the entries do support is that the interface rework is unfinished business rather than a prelude to new methods, so consolidation around the new helper functions is the likelier next step.

◆Recent moves

  1. 10mo ago

    Model configuration moves into dedicated control functions

    The first release in over four years, and it reorganises rather than extends. Splitting configuration into cox_cure.control(), cox_cure.mstep() and cox_cure_net.penalty() untangles the argument list that built up across 0.2.x, and dropping unnecessary internal standardization takes some cost out of the fit.

    View source ↗
  2. 5y ago

    Cross-validated model selection and offset terms added

    The last release before the long pause, and the one that made the models practical to select between — cv_nfolds for cross-validation, AIC in the output, and offset terms in both the survival and incidence components. These are the arguments the 0.3.0 rework later moved behind helper functions.

    View source ↗
  3. 6y ago

    C++ headers relocated so other packages can link them

    Moving the headers to inst/include exposed the implementation for reuse by other packages, a decision that treats the C++ core as shared infrastructure rather than private code. A test suite and faster M-step convergence defaults shipped alongside.

    View source ↗
  4. 7y ago

    Cox cure models for uncertain event status arrive

    The release that established what the package does: cox_cure() for the regular and extended Cox cure rate model, cox_cure_net() for the regularized version, plus a weighted concordance index and a simulator for uncertain-status data. Everything since has refined this surface without adding to it.

    View source ↗
  5. 7y ago

    Parameter initialization methods added to the alpha

    A one-line change to the alpha version, posted a minute after the first alpha. Pre-dates any public interface.

    View source ↗
  6. 7y ago

    Alpha cut for paper submission and simulation reproducibility

    The package's origin as a research artifact, published to accompany a paper and let its simulations be reproduced. States plainly that reproducibility, not general use, was the initial purpose.

    View source ↗