Abstract:
Alloimmunization is an immune response to foreign antigens after interaction with tissues or cells with genetic disparity, despite the fact that they can save lives. Alloantibodies to one or more RBC antigens can develop as an effect of transfusions of blood. The incidence of alloimmunization in cancer patients presenting at Moi Teaching Hospital has not been assessed, and it is still unknown despite the fact that it is a major causes of transfusion adverse incidences among cancer patients. This study assessed prevalence of red blood cells alloimmunization, association between alloimmunization and transfusion frequency, and association between alloimmunization and age among cancer patients at Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital. It also assessed the association between alloimmunization and gender. Cross-sectional study design was used in investigation and focused on multi-transfused cancer patients treated at Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital Kenya. The study included 162-person sample size based on Fisher's exact test formulae and a consecutive sampling technique was applied. The gel-based antibody screening and identification was performed with "ID-Diacell I-IIIII®" panel cells. Frequency, mean, median, and dispersion of descriptive statistics were shown and the association between alloimmunization with relation to transfusions, age and gender were established by spearman’s analysis correlation. The threshold for statistical significance was set at P0.05. Moreover, 95% degree of significance was used for statistical testing. The outcomes were displayed using tables and charts. Participation was voluntary, confidentiality was upheld, and informed agreement was obtained in writing. In the present investigation, the findings highlighted the necessity of meticulously screening for alloantibodies in cancer patients, particularly in those who have received multiple transfusions, in order to significantly improve the safety of blood transfusions in these patients. This study established prevalence of 6.2% alloimmunization among cancer patients with a higher rate in female (8.8%) compared to male (3.7%) patients. Anti-E and anti-K alloantibodies were the most frequent alloantibodies. No correlation was found between frequency of transfusions and alloimmunization (P= 0.753). There was moderate correlation between alloimmunization and age (P= 0.159), Nonetheless, there was a significant positive correlation with gender (P= 0.01). This study proposes that in order to limit the volume of blood removed by alloantibodies following transfusion, cancer patients receiving blood should be tested for alloantibodies and given equal antigen-negative blood units.
