AN ANALYSIS ON THE EFFECT OF BLOOD-TRANSFUSION ON RECURRENCE AND SURVIVAL IN PATIENTS UNDERGOING EXTENDED LYMPHADENECTOMY FOR COLORECTAL-CANCER

In a retrospective study data were collected from 644 patients with ca ncer of the colon or rectum undergoing curative surgery with extended lymphadenectomy to evaluate a possible effect of blood transfusion, gi ven perioperatively, on tumor recurrence and patient survival. Univari ate analysis showed depth of bowel wall invasion, number and level of lymph node metastases to be of highly significant prognostic factors. After 5 years the overall recurrence rate was 16.6 % for the non-trans fused (n = 223) and 26.1 % for the transfused (n=421; p<.01) patients, and survival rates showed borderline significance favoring the non-tr ansfused patients (90.5 % vs. 80.0 % after 5 years; p < 0.05). However , after stratification for the prognostically important factors, in a multivariate analysis a possible detrimental effect of perioperative b lood transfusions could not be demonstrated.