Transfusion-induced immunosuppression has long been known to be beneficial for
organ transplantation patients, but recent retrospective studies suggest that
blood transfusions may be detrimental for patients with
cancer. If autologous blood is used to avoid immunosuppression, the assumption is that the procedure, involving blood donation, is immunologically neutral. In the present study, this assumption was evaluated by monitoring 33 normal blood donors and 16
colorectal cancer patients before and after donation of 1 (500 mL) and 2 units of blood, respectively. The
cancer patients belonged to the autologous arm of a randomized trial in which the effects of allogeneic versus autologous blood on
cancer prognosis were studied. The patients donated 2 units of blood with an interval of 3 to 4 days between donations. Flow cytometric analysis revealed that blood donation by normal donors and
cancer patients had no effect on the proportion of B, T, and natural killer (NK) cells. Only the total number of lymphocytes was significantly decreased in the normal donors on Day 12 after donation. Blood donation had no significant effect on T-cell function assessed by
phytohemagglutinin stimulation in normal donors or in
cancer patients donating 2 units of blood. A significant depression of NK cell function (88% and 74% of predonation levels) was observed in normal donors on Days 2 and 5 after donation; on Day 12, the activity was again normal.
Colorectal cancer patients had a significantly depressed NK cell activity (54% of predonation activity) on Day 12 after the first donation.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)