From the Journals

Perioperative blood transfusion linked to worse outcomes in renal cell carcinoma

Publish date: November 5, 2017
By
Roxanne Nelson

 

FROM UROLOGIC ONCOLOGY

Perioperative blood transfusion (PBT) is associated with poorer outcomes among patients who underwent nephrectomy for renal cell carcinoma (RCC), according to a retrospective review of 1,159 patients.

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“Although these findings require further validation, continued efforts to minimize the use of blood products in patients with RCC are essential,” said Yasmin Abu-Ghanem, MD, of the Sheba Medical Center, Tel Hashomer, Israel, and coauthors (Urologic Onc. 2017 Oct 6. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.urolonc.2017.09.006).

Previous research suggests that PBT may be associated with worse oncological outcomes following cancer surgery, although the data have been inconsistent. In this study, Dr. Abu-Ghanem and colleagues conducted a retrospective study that examined effect of PBT on the prognosis of 1,159 patients who underwent radical nephrectomy or partial nephrectomy for RCC, between 1987 to 2013.

Within this cohort, 198 patients (17.1%) received a PBT, and the median follow-up was 63.2 months. Receipt of PBT was associated with a symptomatic presentation (P less than .001) and a higher rate of adverse pathological features that included larger tumors (P less than .001), high nuclear grade (P less than .001), presence of tumor necrosis (P less than .001), and capsular invasion (P less than .001). Patients who received PBT were also more likely to have undergone an open surgical procedure (P less than .05).

The authors found that receipt of a PBT was associated with significantly worse 5-year relapse free survival (81% vs. 92%, P less than .01) as well as metastatic free survival (79% vs. 93%, P less than .001). Receiving a PBT was also associated with a worse 5-year CSS (85% vs. 95%, P less than .001) and OS (73% vs. 81%, P less than .001) versus those who were not transfused.

A subgroup analysis showed that patients who underwent a partial nephrectomy also had worse outcomes if they received a PBT as compared to those who didn’t; 5-year relapse free survival was 81% vs. 90% (P = .014), CSS was 89% vs. 97% (P = .019) and OS was 82% vs. 92%, (P = .016).

There were no funding sources or author disclosures listed in the article.

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