title: Lack of any relationship between ABO and Rh blood groups and clinicopathological features in patients with gastrointestinal stromal tumors: Turkish Oncology Group.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  An association between the ABO blood group and the risk of certain malignancies, including pancreatic and gastric cancer, has been reported previously. However, it is unclear whether this association is valid for gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GIST). In this study, ABO blood groups and the Rh factor were investigated in a series of GIST cases.
  
  
  METHODS
  In 162 patients with GIST, blood group and Rh factor were examined and compared with a control group of 3,022,883 healthy volunteer blood donors of the Turkish Red Crescent between 2004 and 2011. The relationship of blood groups with tumor size, mitotic activity, and age were also evaluated.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Overall, the ABO blood group and Rh factor distributions of the 162 patients with GIST were similar to those of the general population. There were no significant differences between both ABO blood types and Rh factor in terms of tumor size, mitotic activity, and age.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This is the first study reported on this issue. In our study, we didn't find any relationship between GIST and ABO blood group and Rh factor. However further studies with larger number of patients are needed to establish the role of blood groups in this population.
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Medicine, Ankara University, Turkey.
authors.forename: Yüksel
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Ürün
authors.forename: Güngör
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Utkan
authors.forename: Şuayib
authors.initials: Ş
authors.lastname: Yalcin
authors.forename: Hasan Şenol
authors.initials: HŞ
authors.lastname: Coşkun
authors.forename: Murat
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Koçer
authors.forename: Nuriye Yildirim
authors.initials: NY
authors.lastname: Özdemir
authors.forename: Mehmet Ali
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Kaplan
authors.forename: Ülkü Yalçintaş
authors.initials: ÜY
authors.lastname: Arslan
authors.forename: Feyyaz
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Özdemir
authors.forename: Derya
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Öztuna
authors.forename: Hakan
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Akbulut
authors.forename: Fikri
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: İçli
mesh_terms: D000017:ABO Blood-Group System / Q000097:blood*; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D005260:Female; D046152:Gastrointestinal Stromal Tumors / Q000097:blood*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008495:Medical Oncology; D008875:Middle Aged; D011379:Prognosis; D012204:Rh-Hr Blood-Group System / Q000097:blood*; D014421:Turkey
chemical_list: D000017:ABO Blood-Group System; D012204:Rh-Hr Blood-Group System