Perioperative blood transfusion and survival of breast cancer patients after modified radical mastectomy.

To investigate the effect of perioperative blood transfusion on the survival of patients with breast cancer, the authors reviewed the clinical records of 455 patients who underwent modified radical mastectomy between 1960 and 1979. Thirty-eight patients (8.4%) received blood transfusions. For stage I patients who received perioperative transfusions, 5- and 10-year survival rates were 53% and 47%; for the no-transfusion group, the rates were 93% and 85%. There was also a significant difference in disease-free survival for stage I patients: for the transfusion group, 5- and 10-year survival rates were 47%; for the group not receiving a transfusion, the rates were 89% and 84%. For stage II patients, there was no difference in total or disease-free survival between those who received transfusions and those who did not, and both groups had comparable distribution of nodes.