The Impact of Perioperative Blood Transfusion on Survival of Bladder Cancer Patients Submitted to Radical Cystectomy: Role of Anemia Status.

Background The prognostic role of perioperative blood transfusion (PBT) in patients who underwent radical cystectomy (RC) for bladder cancer (BCa), although supported by clinical evidence, still remains to be assessed definitively. Objective To investigate the impact of PBT on RC patients for overall survival and after stratifying according to preoperative anemia status and to define whether the oncologic impact may be assumed to be a primary effect of PBT or attributed to the reduced preoperative hemoglobin (Hb) level. Design, setting, and participants A total of 1490 consecutive patients with nonmetastatic BCa who underwent RC and pelvic lymph node dissection between January 1990 and Augu…