Blood transfusions during neoadjuvant chemotherapy for muscle-invasive urinary bladder cancer may have a negative impact on overall survival.

To evaluate the extent and plausible effects of blood transfusions given during cisplatin-based neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC) on overall survival in patients with muscle-invasive urothelial bladder cancer (MIBC) undergoing NAC and radical cystectomy (RC). Several studies have demonstrated a decreased survival for MIBC patients receiving allogenic peri- and postoperative blood transfusions in conjunction with RC. No studies have previously investigated the effects of blood transfusions during NAC.