Impact of ABO blood group on the prognosis of patients undergoing surgery for esophageal cancer

BACKGROUND: ABO blood type is an established prognostic factor in several malignancies, but its role in esophageal cancer (EC) is largely unknown. The aim of this study is to determine whether ABO blood group is associated with survival after esophagectomy for EC. METHODS: A total of 406 patients who underwent surgery for EC were enrolled. The associations of ABO blood group with clinical and pathological variables were assessed using chi-square test. Associations of ABO blood group with the survival were estimated using univariable and multivariable Cox proportional hazards regression models. RESULTS: The ABO blood group proportionally associated with the grade of EC tumor (P = 0.049). The ABO blood group status did not correlate with disease-free survival (DFS) in univariable analysis or multivariable analysis (P > 0.05). And there was no significant relationship between the ABO blood group and overall survival (OS) in univariable analysis or multivariable analysis (P > 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Our results suggested that no association between ABO blood group and the survival was observed in patients undergoing surgery for EC. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12893-015-0094-1) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.