In an unadjusted survival analysis using the Kaplan-Meyer method, patients with preoperative Hb values <130 g/l had worse 5-yr overall survival (44% vs 65%, p < 0.001), worse 5-yr cancer-specific survival (64% vs 78%, p < 0.001), as well as 5-yr recurrence-free survival (67% vs 75%, p < 0.001; Fig. 1). Here, GSTM1 is linked to cancer.