Abstract
Clinical and experimental studies indicate, that blood transfusion can modify the recipient's immune system. While beneficial to renal allograft survival, these immunomodulating effects may, however, prove detrimental to cancer patients. Recently, an adverse relationship between blood transfusion and cancer recurrence was reported in colon, lung, breast, kidney and gastric cancer. Moreover, a higher postoperative infection rate was observed when blood units were administered intraoperatively. We retrospectively reviewed the records of 174 patients with squamous cell carcinoma of the larynx undergoing curative resection between 1979 and 1985. One hundred and forty-one patients received blood transfusions, 33 did not. Recurrence rate (16.7%) was significantly related to clinical stage (p = 0.008) and lymph node status (p = 0.000); cumulative survival time depended significantly on clinical stage (p = 0.003), lymph node status (p = 0.004) and tumor size (p = 0.017). In contrast, when corrected for these baseline prognostic factors, no significant correlation could be detected between blood transfusion and cancer relapse. Also, survival time did not depend on blood transfusions. No correlation could be found between postoperative infection rate and intraoperative application of blood transfusion (p = 0.694). The present study does not support the hypothesis that blood transfusion adversely affects the prognosis of patients with laryngeal cancer. It indicates, that risk factors other than blood transfusion have a greater influence on recurrence and survival time.
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Disclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.