“Do blood transfusions help cancer patients?”

Blood transfusion in and of itself does not treat cancer, however, may be vitally important in the support of cancer treatment. We need red blood cells to adequately carry oxygen to our vital organs and we need platelets to keep from bleeding. Many anti-leukemic chemotherapy agents suppress the bone marrow which produces our blood. While undergoing chemotherapy, if your blood counts run too low, you will be at increased risk of bleeding and organ failure. In this way, blood transfusions can help cancer patients.

The reason to give a red blood cell transfusion is for anemia, to raise the red blood cells numbers to carry oxygen to the tissue. Yes, this is certainly necessary but apart from that there is no direct benefit in controlling the cancer.