Evidence map›Paper›PMID 38831291›Full record

Trial reportBMC cancer2024

A randomized control trial to compare mortality in recipients of leucoreduced and non-leucoreduced whole blood transfusion in patients with cancer in Uganda.

Clement D Okello, Jackson Orem, Martin Nabwana, Noah Kiwanuka, Andrew W Shih, Nancy Heddle, Harriet Mayanja-Kizza

Abstract readRandomized Controlled TrialComparative Study
In one paragraph

Trial report in BMC cancer, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

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0citing papers in PubMed
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1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

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3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

0 citing papers in PubMed.

No citing paper in PubMed yet.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

7 authors.

Clement D OkelloUganda Cancer Institute, Kampala, Uganda. okdclement@gmail.com.
Jackson OremUganda Cancer Institute, Kampala, Uganda.
Martin NabwanaMakerere University, Johns Hopkins University Research Collaboration, Kampala, Uganda.
Noah KiwanukaSchool of Public Health, College of Health Sciences, Makerere University, Kampala, Uganda.
Andrew W ShihDepartment of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada.
Nancy HeddleMichael DeGroote Centre for Transfusion Research, Department of Medicine, McMaster University, Hamilton, ON, Canada.
Harriet Mayanja-KizzaDepartment of Medicine, College of Health Sciences, Makerere University, Kampala, Uganda.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundMortality benefit of transfusion with leucoreduced whole blood has not been demonstrated in the sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). We compared mortality in patients with cancer transfused with leucoreduced and non-leucoreduced whole blood in a SSA setting.

methodsAn open-label randomized controlled trial was conducted at the Uganda Cancer Institute where participants were randomized in a 1:1 ratio into the leucoreduced and non-leucoreduced whole blood transfusion arms. Leucocyte filtration of whole blood was performed within 72 h of blood collection. Patients aged ≥ 15 years who were prescribed blood transfusion by the primary physicians were eligible for study enrolment. Mortality difference was analyzed using intention-to-treat survival analysis and cox proportional hazard model was used to analyze factors associated with mortality.

resultsThere were 137 participants randomized to the leucoreduced and 140 to the non-leucoreduced arms. Baseline characteristics were similar between the two arms. The median number of blood transfusions received was 1 (IQR, 1-3) unit and 2 (IQR, 1-3) units in the leucoreduced and non-leucoreduced arms respectively, p = 0.07. The 30-day mortality rate in the leucoreduced arm was 4.6% (95% CI, 2.1-10) and was 6.2% (95% CI, 3.2-12.1) in the non-leucoreduced arm (p = 0.57), representing an absolute effect size of only 1.6%. Increasing age (HR = 0.92, 95% CI, 0.86-0.98, p = 0.02) and Eastern Co-operative Oncology Group (ECOG) performance score of 1 (HR = 0.03, 95% CI, 0.00-0.31, p < 0.01) were associated with reduced 30-day mortality.

conclusionsThe study failed to demonstrate mortality difference between cancer patients transfused with leucoreduced and non-leucoreduced whole blood. Although this study does not support nor refute universal leucoreduction to reduce mortality in patients with cancer in SSA, it demonstrates the feasibility of doing transfusion RCTs in Uganda, where a multi-center trial with an appropriate sample size is needed.

trial registrationPan African Clinical Trial Registry, https://pactr.samrc.ac.za/ (PACTR202302787440132). Registered on 06/02/2023.

Indexed as

Blood TransfusionNeoplasmsAdultAgedFemaleHumansLeukocyte Reduction ProceduresMaleMiddle AgedProportional Hazards ModelsUgandaLeucoreduced whole bloodMortalityUganda

Identifiers

PMID38831291
PMCPMC11149322

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