BLOOD-TRANSFUSION AND OTHER PROGNOSTIC VARIABLES IN THE SURVIVAL OF PATIENTS WITH CANCER OF THE HEAD AND NECK

The clinical records of 207 patients with squamous cell carcinoma of t he head and neck, diagnosed and surgically treated at the Otolaryngolo gy Division of Pordenone General Hospital and Aviano Cancer Centre, no rtheast of Italy, from January 1982 to December 1987, were retrospecti vely reviewed to gather information on blood transfusions and other ch aracteristics potentially related to survival. The group of patients ( mean age=59 years) included 85 cases (41%) of laryngeal cancer, 80 cas es (39%) of oropharyngeal and hypopharyngeal cancer, and 34 cases (16% ) of cancer of the oral cavity. Fifty-five patients (27%) did not rece ive any blood transfusion while 152 patients were transfused with diff erent amounts of blood. At the univariate analysis, nodal involvement, clinical stage, type of therapy, status of surgical margins, and meta static spread beyond the nodal capsule appeared to be significantly li nked to prognosis. After adjustment for other prognostic variables, tr ansfused patients showed a twofold higher hazard ratio as compared to nontransfused patients, but such an unfavorable predictive value shoul d be evaluated in the context of the other prognostic correlates of ca ncer of the head and neck.