Relation between recurrence of cancer of the colon and blood transfusion

Neil Blumberg, Mukesh M. Agarwal, Christy Chuang

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

224 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Data suggest that blood transfusion can cause immunosuppression. The incidence of recurrence of tumours was examined retrospectively in patients who had undergone potentially curative operations for cancer of the colon during 1970-81. Tumours recurred in six of 68 patients (9%) who had not been given transfusions and in 56 of 129 patients (43%) who had (p <0 0001). Transfusion was also found to be significantly associated with the time to recurrence after adjustment for other baseline prognostic factors (p <0 05). Perioperative transfusion may be a significant risk factor in the prognosis of cancer of the colon. Whether this association is causal is unknown.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)1037-1039
Number of pages3
JournalBritish Medical Journal (Clinical research ed.)
Volume290
Issue number6474
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Apr 6 1985
Externally publishedYes

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • General Medicine

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Relation between recurrence of cancer of the colon and blood transfusion'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this