SynthesisAnaesthesia2025
Association between peri-operative red blood cell transfusion and cancer recurrence in patients undergoing major cancer surgery: an umbrella review.
Synthesis in Anaesthesia, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers.
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.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
2 citing papers in PubMed.
- Transfusion-related immunomodulation effect of erythrocyte characteristics on immune cells traits based on a multivariable Mendelian randomization study.International journal of surgery (London, England) · 2026Article
- Deciphering the Complex Intertwining Between Cytopenia and Transfusion Needs After CAR-T-Cell Therapy for B-Cell Malignancies.Life (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
7 authors.
Funding
Abstract
introductionPeri-operative allogeneic red blood cell transfusion is hypothesised to increase the risk of cancer recurrence following cancer surgery. However, previous data supporting this association are limited by residual confounding. We conducted an umbrella review (i.e. a systematic review of systematic reviews) to synthesise and evaluate the evidence between red blood cell transfusion and cancer recurrence.
methodsWe searched online databases for systematic reviews of red blood cell transfusion and cancer-related outcomes. The AMSTAR 2 tool was used for quality assessment. The adequacy of confounding adjustment was judged according to a consensus-derived framework.
resultsWe included five relevant systematic views which included patient populations ranging from 2110 to 184,190. Two reviews reported cancer recurrence, and all reported an association with red blood cell transfusion. Three reviews reported positive associations between red blood cell transfusion and adverse outcomes including all-cause mortality, recurrence-free survival and cancer-related mortality. According to AMSTAR 2, four reviews were rated as 'critically low quality' and one as 'low quality'. There was variation in how systematic reviews assessed the risk of bias from confounding. Compared with our pre-derived framework, we found a high likelihood of unmeasured confounding. DISCUSSION: Currently available evidence describes an association between peri-operative red blood cell transfusion and cancer recurrence, but this is mostly of low to critically low quality, with minimal control for residual confounding. Further research, at low risk of bias, is required to provide definitive evidence and inform practice.
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