Blood transfusion and lung cancer recurrence.
Recent reports have suggested that perioperative blood transfusions may adversely affect prognosis after resection of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). To determine the impact of perioperative transfusion on the recurrence-free interval, the status of 352 patients who underwent pulmonary resection for pathologic Stages I and II NSCLC was investigated. Transfused patients were significantly older than untransfused patients (P = 0.0009) but were not significantly different in sex distribution (P = 0.12) or tumor stage (P = 0.09). Recurrence was not significantly different in transfused patients when compared with patients who received no blood (P = 0.23) even when stratified for stage (Stage I, P = 0.58; Stage II, P = 0.14). Furthermore, the number of units transfused was not associated with time to tumor recurrence (P = 0.58). Contrary to other reports, these results do not support the contention that perioperative blood transfusion is significantly associated with decreased recurrence-free survival.
Keller
S M
SM
Division of Thoracic Surgery, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, New York, New York.
Groshen
S
S
Martini
N
N
Kaiser
L R
LR
D000368:Aged; D001789:Blood Group Antigens; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D007432:Intraoperative Period; D008175:Lung Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology* / Q000601:surgery; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009364:Neoplasm Recurrence, Local; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D011379:Prognosis; D065227:Transfusion Reaction
D001789:Blood Group Antigens