title: Blood transfusion does not influence the development of malignant tumours.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To investigate whether blood transfusion given to women during childbirth favours tumour development in later life.
  
  
  METHODS
  Retrospective cohort study.
  
  
  METHODS
  County hospital, Sweden.
  
  
  METHODS
  621 women who were given blood transfusions during childbirth compared with 1216 matched controls who were not given transfusions at the time of delivery.
  
  
  METHODS
  Overall and cancer-specific mortality, cancer morbidity, time interval between transfusion and diagnosis or death from cancer.
  
  
  RESULTS
  After 21-31 years of follow-up of cancer morbidity and 22-32 years of overall and cancer-specific mortality, we found no significant differences between the groups. There were no differences in time from transfusion to diagnosis of malignant disease, or in time from transfusion to death from cancer.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Blood transfusion given to women during childbirth does not promote malignant tumour development in later life, nor does it increase cancer mortality.
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, Uddevalla County Hospital, Sweden.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Skånberg
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Frisk
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D015331:Cohort Studies; D036861:Delivery, Obstetric; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D016867:Immunocompromised Host; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000453:epidemiology*; D010298:Parity; D012042:Registries / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D015996:Survival Rate; D013548:Sweden / Q000453:epidemiology; D013997:Time Factors; D065227:Transfusion Reaction