The impact of perioperative allogeneic blood transfusion on survival in elderly patients with colorectal cancer.

BACKGROUND: The relationship between perioperative allogeneic blood transfusion (ABT) and survival following curative surgery for colorectal cancer (CRC) in elderly patients has not been elucidated to date. PATIENTS AND METHODS: The cases of 108 patients aged 75 years or more who underwent curative surgery for CRC between 2004 and 2011 were retrospectively reviewed. The association between perioperative ABT requirements and other clinicopathological variables was examined. Subsequently, perioperative ABT was compared with other variables concerning overall survival (OS) by univariate and multivariate analyses. RESULTS: Tumor depth, lymph node metastasis and hemoglobin levels were significantly associated with perioperative ABT. Transfused patients had significantly worse OS compared to non-transfused patients. In the multivariate analysis, perioperative ABT (hazard ratio=3.16, 95% confidence interval=1.11-8.98, p=0.031) was the only independent indicator of OS. CONCLUSION: Perioperative ABT was significantly associated with increased mortality in elderly patients with CRC.