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Blood transfusions in breast cancer patients undergoing mastectomy: Possible importance of timing
Author(s) -
Pysz Maciej
Publication year - 2000
Publication title -
journal of surgical oncology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.201
H-Index - 111
eISSN - 1096-9098
pISSN - 0022-4790
DOI - 10.1002/1096-9098(200012)75:4<258::aid-jso6>3.0.co;2-i
Subject(s) - medicine , mastectomy , breast cancer , cancer , general surgery , blood transfusion , surgery
Background and Objectives The influence of blood transfusions on survival of breast cancer is still not convincingly determined. To assess prognostic significance of blood transfusions, a group of 863 breast cancer patients (mean follow‐up 68.3 months) treated with mastectomy during 1977–1995 in Oncologic Hospital, Bielsko‐Biala, Poland, was analyzed. Methods Retrospective analyses were performed using log‐rank tests and Cox proportional hazards models. Results In univariate analysis, administering blood transfusions to breast cancer patients after mastectomy significantly shortened their overall, local recurrence‐free and metastases‐free survival (95% confidence intervals for differences in 5 year survival ranged from 6.5–27%). Multivariate analyses showed that only time of transfusion with reference to the time of mastectomy was an independent prognostic factor for metastases‐free survival. Conclusions Allogenic blood transfusions in the first 8 days after mastectomy may shorten metastases‐free survival of breast cancer patients. J. Surg. Oncol. 2000;75:258–263. © 2000 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.