e17012 Background: Perioperative blood transfusion (PBT) has been associated with worse outcomes in surgical oncology across tumor types. We report our institutional experience of postoperative outcomes related to PBT utilization, in patients (pts) with bladder cancer (BC) treated with radical cystectomy (RC). We hypothesized that PBT is associated with worse clinical outcomes. Methods: Pts with BC treated with RC were retrospectively identified. Clinicopathologic and peri/post-operative data were extracted. PBT was defined as red blood cell transfusion during RC or postoperative hospitalization. Overall survival (OS, diagnosis to death) and recurrence free survival (RFS, RC to recurrence/death) were estimated with the KM method. T-test, χ2 and log-rank test were used for group comparison analysis. Univariate/multivariate logistic (LR) and Cox regression (CR) were used to identify variables associated with dependent dichotomous outcomes and OS/RFS, respectively. Results: 784 consecutive pts (78% men; median age 67) were identified. At least one post-operative complication (POC) occurred in 407 (52%) pts; most common were pyelonephritis and sepsis (11% each). PBT was administered to 238 pts (30%). Those with PBT had a higher proportion of POCs (35% vs 28%, p = .02). Median follow-up, OS and RFS were 66 (95% CI: 60 - 72), 94 (95% CI: 79 - 109) and 66 months (95% CI: 50 – 82), respectively. Pts who received PBT had shorter OS (51 vs 130 months, p < .001) and RFS (27 vs 86 months, p < .001). In multivariate LR and CR, PBT was independently associated with higher odds of POCs (OR 1.5, 95% CI: 1.03 – 2.2, p = .03), length of hospital stay (LOS) > 10 days (OR 2.0, 95% CI 1.1 – 3.5, p = .02), shorter OS (HR 1.6, 95% CI 1.2-2.0, p = .001), and RFS (HR 1.5, 95% CI 1.2 - 1.9, p = .001), after adjustment for other relevant clinicopathologic variables (age, gender, performance status, neoadjuvant chemotherapy, baseline hemoglobin, open/robotic approach, pT/N stage, surgical margins, lymphovascular invasion at RC, variant histologies). Conclusions: Pts who received PBT had higher odds of POC, longer LOS and poor outcomes after RC. This is hypothesis-generating due to inherent study limitations. Further studies are needed to validate this finding, explain underlying mechanisms and explore putative interventions to improve outcomes.
The impact of perioperative blood transfusion on survival outcomes in radical cystectomy patients
