Blood transfusion and prognosis in Dukes' B and C colorectal cancer.
To evaluate the prognostic influence of blood transfusion in cancer patients, transfusion data were reviewed on 468 radically operated patients (260 Dukes' B and 208 Dukes' C) with carcinoma of the rectum and the rectosigmoid. Data on whole blood and packed red blood cell transfusions were recorded together with a number of clinical, pathological and histochemical characteristics. The endpoint used was death with cancer. All patients were followed for 2-7 years or until time of death. Univariate statistical methods revealed a highly significant trend towards worsened prognosis with increasing volume of transfusion blood. However, this effect was insignificant when multivariate statistical methods were employed: patients receiving whole blood or packed red blood cell transfusions did no worse than expected from their clinico-pathological characteristics. It is concluded that in this series the observed association between transfusion status and prognosis is adequately explained by a multivariate prognostic model including well-established prognostic factors.
Bentzen
S M
SM
Danish Cancer Society, Department of Experimental Clinical Oncology, Aarhus.
Balslev
I
I
Pedersen
M
M
Teglbjaerg
P S
PS
Hanberg-Sørensen
F
F
Bone
J
J
Jacobsen
N O
NO
Sell
A
A
Overgaard
J
J
Bertelsen
K
K
D000368:Aged; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D015179:Colorectal Neoplasms / Q000401:mortality* / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery; D017707:Erythrocyte Transfusion; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D015337:Multicenter Studies as Topic; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D011379:Prognosis; D016016:Proportional Hazards Models; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012307:Risk Factors; D015996:Survival Rate; D065227:Transfusion Reaction