title: Peri-operative blood transfusion in relation to tumour recurrence and death after surgery for prostatic cancer.
abstract: Several reports have suggested that peri-operative blood transfusion promotes tumour recurrence and death after surgery for cancer. We have studied the effect of transfusion in 156 patients operated on for prostatic cancer. A retrospective review was made of the clinical, histopathological and transfusion data in their hospital records. Sixty patients received blood transfusions and 96 did not. The 5-year prostatic cancer specific survival rate was 0.56 in the transfused patients and 0.69 in the non-transfused group. The transfused patients had a higher prevalence of risk factors than did the non-transfused. When the differences in risk factors were accounted for by Cox regression analysis, peri-operative blood transfusion reduced the prostatic cancer death intensity by 36%. The study does not support the hypothesis that blood transfusion promotes recurrence following surgery for prostatic cancer.
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery K, Frederiksberg Hospital, Copenhagen, Denmark.
authors.forename: J H
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Eickhoff
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Göte
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Baeck
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009364:Neoplasm Recurrence, Local / Q000401:mortality; D011446:Prospective Studies; D011467:Prostate / Q000601:surgery; D011471:Prostatic Neoplasms / Q000401:mortality* / Q000601:surgery; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012307:Risk Factors; D013514:Surgical Procedures, Operative / Q000401:mortality; D015996:Survival Rate; D065227:Transfusion Reaction