Objective:

To investigate the association between peri-operative blood transfusion (BTF) and overall survival (OS) and disease-free survival (DFS) in patients undergoing radical gastrectomy for stage II/III gastric cancer, specifically measuring the impact of BTF on these outcomes.

Key Findings:

• No significant difference in OS and DFS between patients who received BTF and those who did not, indicating no adverse effect of BTF on long-term survival.
• BTF was not found to be a prognostic indicator for long-term survival outcomes in gastric cancer patients post-surgery.

Interpretation:

The study suggests that the association between BTF and survival outcomes may be confounded by other factors such as tumor stage and patient characteristics, which were identified and controlled for in the analysis.

Limitations:

• Retrospective design may introduce selection bias and limit causal inferences.
• Data limited to a single high-volume center, which may affect generalizability and introduce biases in data collection and patient follow-up.

Conclusion:

Peri-operative blood transfusion does not adversely affect overall and disease-free survival in patients undergoing radical gastrectomy for stage II/III gastric cancer.