The prognostic role of perioperative allogeneic blood transfusions in gastric cancer patients undergoing curative resection: A systematic review and meta-analysis of non-randomized, adjusted studies

This meta-analysis showed a significant association between transfusions and OS, DFS, DSS and PCs. The quality of the evidence was low. Aggregation, selection and selective reporting bias were detected. The biases shifted the results towards significance. Further studies using accurate adjustment methods are needed. Until such additional studies are performed, caution in administering transfusions and optimization of cancer patient blood management are warranted.