Peri-operative blood transfusion in relation to tumour recurrence and death after surgery for prostatic cancer

Several reports have suggested that peri-operative blood transfusion promotes tumour recurrence and death after surgery for cancer. We have studied the effect of transfusion in 156 patients operated on for prostatic cancer. A retrospective review was made of the clinical, histopathological and transfusion data in their hospital records. Sixty patients received blood transfusions and 96 did not. The 5-year prostatic cancer specific survival rate was 0.56 in the transfused patients and 0.69 in the non-transfused group. The transfused patients had a higher prevalence of risk factors than did the non-transfused. When the differences in risk factors were accounted for by Cox regression analysis, peri-operative blood transfusion reduced the prostatic cancer death intensity by 36%. The study does not support the hypothesis that blood transfusion promotes recurrence following surgery for prostatic cancer.