Comparing survival and recurrence in curative stage I to III colorectal cancer in transfused and nontransfused patients.

Evidence of the association between blood transfusions and its impact on prognostic outcomes in patients who undergo curative resection of colorectal cancer remains controversial. The aim of this study was to determine whether receiving peri-operative blood transfusions during curative colorectal cancer resection affected overall survival, cancer-related survival, and cancer recurrence. This retrospective study was undertaken at The Royal Brisbane and Women's Hospital, Australia, between 1984 and 2004. The outcomes of 1370 patients undergoing curative colorectal cancer resection for TNM stage I to III were analyzed. Four hundred twenty three patients (30.9%) required transfusion and 947 patients (69.1%) did not. Peri-operative transfusion was associated with higher rates of cancer recurrence on multivariate analysis (P = 0.024, RR, 1.257, 95% CI, 1.03-1.53); however, it was not independently associated with poorer overall or cancer-related survival. Where the aim is curative resection, this study contributes to a body of evidence that blood transfusions may be associated with poorer outcomes.