Transfusion-Induced Immunomodulation Following Cancer Surgery: Fact or Fiction?

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Abstract
Exposure to a foreign antigen can induce both immune activation and immunosuppression. The immunomodulatory effect of allogeneic transfusions (blood products provided by a donor other than the patient) was first revealed by the positive association between graft survival and the number of allogeneic transfusions received by renal graft recipients (1,2), and this benefit persisted despite the use of the immunosuppressant cyclosporine (3). In patients undergoing surgery for cancer, such a post-transfusional immunomodulation might have detrimental effects by promoting infection, local tumor relapse, or metastasis.