Influence of perioperative whole blood transfusions on lymphocyte subpopulations in patients with stage II breast cancer

Preliminary reports have suggested an adverse relationship between blood tr ansfusion and survival after surgery in patients with solid tumour, One mig ht postulate that from these studies, perioperative blood transfusions alte r host immune defences. We therefore examined the influence of homologous w hole blood transfusion on circulating lymphocyte subpopulations in transfus ed patients compared with non-transfused patients, Fifty-one women with Sta ge II breast cancer who underwent surgical procedures were studied. Patient s were classified into two groups on the basis of whether or not they had r eceived blood transfusion, The lymphocyte subpopulations were analyzed by f low cytometry before cancer surgery and three weeks after the operation, CD 3(+), CD4(+), CD8(+), and CD20(+) cells as the lymphocyte subsets were quan titated using appropriate monoclonal antibodies, No significant differences between pre- and postoperative lymphocyte subset levels were seen in non-t ransfused patients, However, there was a statistically significant increase in the CD8(+) cell count; decreasing CD4(+) cell count and decreased CD3() cells levels were observed in the transfused group (P < 0.05). Although t hese early results of the study suggest that the blood transfusions could b e associated with alterations in lymphocyte populations, additional studies are needed to elucidate the possible mechanism of the transfusion-induced immunological modulations.