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Evidence summaries

Perioperative Allogeneic Blood Transfusion in Patients with Cancer

Perioperative allogeneic blood transfusion does not have a negative effect on survival or cancer recurrence. Level of evidence: "A"

A systematic review 1 including 6 studies with a total of 1239 subjects was abstracted in DARE. The summary RR for mortality was 0.95 (95% CI 0.79 to 1.15) suggesting that allogeneic transfusion is not associated with an increased mortality risk in patients with cancer. The OR for cancer recurrence was 1.06 (95% CI 0.88 to 1.28).

    References

    • McAlister FA, Clark HD, Wells PS, Laupacis A. Perioperative allogeneic blood transfusion does not cause adverse sequelae in patients with cancer: a meta-analysis of unconfounded studies. Br J Surg 1998 Feb;85(2):171-8. [PubMed] [DARE]

Primary/Secondary Keywords