癌症末期接受安寧照顧目的是為了緩和症狀。貧血在癌症末期是常見的事，而輸血是常用的治療手段，可以讓病人的生活品質及功能得以改善。本文的研究目的是分析輸血對治療癌症病人貧血的效果，以及比較癌末病人在接受安寧照顧後，輸血是否有同等的效益。研究方法：收集民國91 年1 至4 月份入住新店地區某大型區域醫院的癌症住院個案，登錄他們的輸血前後的臨床狀況。這包括血紅素值、血壓、心跳速率、虛弱、喘及頭暈等症狀，輸血的副作用現象等等項目。病人並會繼續被追蹤六個月或直到死亡為止。研究結果：癌症末期病人有接受輸血治療者共76 位，其中有15 位是接受安寧照顧。願意接受安寧或沒有接受安寧照顧的病人在性別、年齡及症狀嚴重的程度方面均沒有統計上的差別。在輸血後，兩類的病人在症狀上均有改善且極少的副作用。雖然沒有接受安寧照顧的病人均比接受安寧照顧的病人有較大的進步，但在統計上這兩類的病人卻沒有顯著的差異。在持續的追蹤過程中，六位接受安寧照顧的病人均在六個月內過世，其平均存活天數為29 天。未接受安寧照顧的癌症病人平均存活天數為110 天。兩組的平均存活天數有顯著的差異(p < 0.005)。結論：輸血治療副作用少且確實可改善病人的相關貧血症狀，而上述兩類病人症狀改善的程度是沒有顯著的差別，但對於安寧癌末病人卻未有確切延長其壽命的現象。在醫師的細心分析及醫師與病人共同研商情形下所給予的治療是應值得尊重的。

Background and Purpose: The aim of this research was to explore possible beneficialeffects of blood transfusion for anemic terminal cancer patients with or without hospice care.Methods: Cancer patients admitted to a district hospital in the Hsintien area from January toApril 2001 andwho received blood transfusionwere enrolled, and their clinical presentationswererecorded. The post-transfusion presentation including any adverse reaction to the bloodtransfusion was also recorded. All patients were followed-up for 6 months. Results: There wereonly a few minor adverse reactions related to the transfusion. Both the non-hospice and hospicecancer patients reported improvement in symptoms, but the difference between the 2 groups wasnot significant. There was a significant difference in survival duration between the 2 groups (p <0.005). The non-hospice group survived longer. Conclusion: Blood transfusion can improve thesymptoms related to anemia in cancer patients, and only a few adverse reactions to the transfusionswere observed. Both groups showed similar degree of improvement with blood transfusion.According to our results, the decision to transfuse by a well-trained doctor and a terminal cancerpatient should be respected.