ABSTRACT
In cancer patients perioperative blood transfusion is associated with early recurrence and poor survival following surgery for a variety of malignancies. This chapter reviews the evidence linking transfusion to cancer recurrence focusing on colorectal cancer because more studies of colorectal cancer and blood transfusion have been published than all other malignancies combined. The studies of breast cancer, with the exception of that by Crowe et al, have surprisingly few patients when one considers the fact that breast cancer is the most common malignancy among women in the United States. A study of 129 patients with cancer of the cervix published by Blumberg et al. observed a significant adverse relationship between blood transfusion and time to death after adjustment for stage, anemia, length of follow-up and date of diagnosis. Experimental models of blood transfusion and tumor growth capable of controlling surgical trauma, tumor load, and transfusion regime could contribute significantly to this area.
