Perioperative Blood Transfusion Effects in Gastric Cancer Management
Summary
Perioperative blood transfusion remains a critical component of surgical management for gastric cancer, yet its effects on postoperative recovery and long-term outcomes have generated considerable debate. Transfusions can rapidly restore circulatory volume and oxygen-carrying capacity in patients undergoing major gastrectomy, but they may also modulate immune function, promote inflammatory activation and influence tumour recurrence. Observational data have linked transfusion requirements with advanced tumour stage, prolonged surgery and increased complication rates, confounding attempts to disentangle the direct impact of transfused blood from the underlying clinical context. Mechanistically, exposure to allogeneic blood products can suppress cell-mediated immunity, alter cytokine profiles and affect residual tumour cell survival. Conversely, restrictive transfusion strategies risk perioperative anaemia that may compromise tissue perfusion and wound healing. The global significance of this issue has driven investigation into refined blood management protocols, leukocyte-reduced components and perioperative optimisation, as well as integration with neoadjuvant therapies. A balanced appraisal of existing evidence is essential to guide transfusion thresholds, enhance patient safety and improve disease-free and overall survival for those undergoing curative gastric cancer resection.
Research from Nature Portfolio
No recent Nature Portfolio content available.
Perioperative Blood Transfusion Effects in Gastric Cancer Management publication trend
The graph below shows the total number of articles in perioperative blood transfusion effects in gastric cancer management across all publications each year (not limited to Nature Index journals).
Technical terms
Neutrophil-to-Lymphocyte Ratio (NLR): A marker of systemic inflammation calculated by dividing the absolute neutrophil count by the absolute lymphocyte count.
Disease-Free Survival (DFS): The interval after primary treatment during which a patient shows no signs of cancer recurrence.
Overall Survival (OS): The duration from treatment initiation to death from any cause, often used to assess treatment efficacy.
Adjuvant Chemotherapy (AC): Drug treatment administered after surgical resection to eradicate residual cancer cells and reduce recurrence risk.
References
- Effect of Perioperative Blood Transfusions and Infectious Complications on Inflammatory Activation and Long-Term Survival Following Gastric Cancer Resection. Cancers (2022).
- The Associations between Perioperative Blood Transfusion and Long-Term Outcomes after Stomach Cancer Surgery. Cancers (2021).
- Association Among Blood Transfusion, Postoperative Infectious Complications, and Cancer-Specific Survival in Patients with Stage II/III Gastric Cancer After Radical Gastrectomy: Emphasizing Benefit from Adjuvant Chemotherapy. Annals of Surgical Oncology (2020).
About these summaries
This Nature Research Intelligence Topic summary is created with the cited references and a large language model. We take care to ground generated text with facts, and have systems in place to gain human feedback on the overall quality of the process in line with our AI principles. We strive to create accurate and useful summaries for people unfamiliar with the research topic and that supports this goal. These pages are a beta release and will be updated as we learn how best to help people gain value from a research topic summary.
Turn complex research questions into confident strategic decisions
When you're under pressure to set direction, justify investment, or understand your competitive position, you need more than raw data — you need trusted insights you can act on.
Benchmark your performance against global peers using robust, methodologically sound analysis.
Combine quantitative metrics with qualitative expert insight to uncover strengths, gaps and emerging opportunities.
Gain tailored, decision-ready recommendations aligned to your strategic priorities.
Talk to us to learn more about our data dashboards and bespoke strategy reports.
Grow research skills, confidence and careers with training built for every stage of the research lifecycle.
Developed with Nature Portfolio journal Editors and internationally renowned experts. Discover three ways to learn:
Self-paced, online courses in convenient bite-sized units, covering key skills across scientific writing, publishing, grant writing, data analysis, and more.
Expert trainer-led workshops with hands-on exercises and real-time feedback across core research skills, delivered via interactive group sessions.
Editor-led workshops combining core principles in writing and publishing, personalised 1:1 feedback from Nature Portfolio Editors and hands-on exercises.
Explore course catalogues and workshop agendas, enquire about the options or request institutional pricing.