Association between perioperative blood transfusion and oncologic outcomes after curative surgery for renal cell carcinoma

Purpose: We aimed to elucidate the association between perioperative blood transfusion (PBT) and the prognosis of patients undergoing curative surgery for renal cell carcinoma (RCC). Methods: In all, 3,832 patients with RCC who had undergone curative surgery were included in this study from a multicenter database. PBT was defined as the transfusion of packed red blood cells within seven days before surgery, during surgery, or within the postoperative hospitalization period. The association of PBT with oncologic outcomes was evaluated using univariate and multivariate Cox regression analyses, and regression adjustment with propensity score matching. Results: Overall, 11.7% (447/3,832) of patients received PBT. Patients receiving PBT were significantly older at diagnosis, and had lower BMI, higher comorbidities, worse ECOG performance status, and more initial symptoms. Moreover, higher pathologic TNM stage, larger mass size, higher nuclear grade, more sarcomatoid differentiation, and more tumor necrosis were all observed more frequently in patients who received PBT. In univariate analysis, relapse-free survival, cancer-specific survival, and overall survival rates were worse in patients who received PBT; however, these factors became insignificant in the matched pairs after propensity score matching. On multivariate Cox regression analysis and regression adjustment with propensity score matching, significant prognostic effects of PBT on disease relapse, cancer-specific mortality, and all-cause mortality were not observed. Conclusions: This multicenter database analysis demonstrates no significant prognostic association between PBT and oncologic outcomes in patients with RCC.