Use of Blood Transfusion at the End of Life: Does it Have Any Effects on Survival of Cancer Patients?
Open Access
- 30 May 2014
- journal article
- Published by Asian Pacific Organization for Cancer Prevention in Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
- Vol. 15 (10), 4251-4254
- https://doi.org/10.7314/apjcp.2014.15.10.4251
Abstract
Treatment of anemia is an important issue in the palliative care setting. Blood transfusion is generally used for this purpose in supportive care. However the place of blood transfusion in terminally ill cancer cases is less far established. We aimed to outline the use of transfusions and to find the impact of blood transfusion on survival in patients with advanced cancer and very near to death. Patients dying in 2010-2011 with advanced cancer were included in the study. We retrospectively collected the data including age, type of cancer, the duration of last hospitalisation, ECOG performance status, Hb levels, transfusion history of erythrocytes and platelets, cause and the amount of transfusion. The anaemic patients who had transfusion at admission were compared with the group who were not transfused. Survival was defined as the time between the admission of last hospitalisation period and death. Three hundred and ninety eight people with solid tumours died in 2010-2011 in our clinic. Ninety percent of the patients had anemia at the time of last hospitalisation. One hundred fifty three patients had erythrocyte transfusion at admission during the last hospitalisation period (38.4%). In the anaemic population the duration of last hospitalisation was longer in patients who had erythrocyte transfusion (15 days vs 8 days, p<0.001). Patients who had blood transfusion at the end of life lived significantly longer than the anaemic patients who were not transfused. This study remarks that blood transfusions should not be withheld from terminal cancer patients in palliative care.This publication has 25 references indexed in Scilit:
- Management of anemia in cancer patientsFuture Oncology, 2011
- Fadiga relacionada ao câncer: uma revisãoRevista da Associação Médica Brasileira, 2011
- Survey of Blood Transfusion Practice for Palliative Care Patients in Yorkshire: Implications for Clinical CareJournal of Palliative Medicine, 2007
- EORTC guidelines for the use of erythropoietic proteins in anaemic patients with cancer: 2006 updateEuropean Journal of Cancer, 2007
- The definition of anemia: what is the lower limit of normal of the blood hemoglobin concentration?Blood, 2006
- A prospective randomized trial of a prophylactic platelet transfusion trigger of 10 × 109 per L versus 30 × 109 per L in allogeneic hematopoietic progenitor cell transplant recipientsTransfusion, 2005
- Anemia at the end of life: prevalence, significance, and causes in patients receiving palliative careJournal of Pain and Symptom Management, 2003
- Large-scale UK audit of blood transfusion requirements and anaemia in patients receiving cytotoxic chemotherapyBritish Journal of Cancer, 2000
- Practice Strategies for Elective Red Blood Cell TransfusionAnnals of Internal Medicine, 1992
- The Quantitative Relation between Platelet Count and Hemorrhage in Patients with Acute LeukemiaThe New England Journal of Medicine, 1962