Anestesia e Recidiva Oncológica – Será tempo de agir? –

Abstract

Introduction: A growing body of evidence points to the influence of the anesthetic technique on the immune function in the perioperative setting, and some results indicate that it may actually impact on the cancer recurrence rate years after the initial surgery. Materials and Methods: We performed a literature review to analyze the influence of anesthetic technique on the perioperative immune function and cancer recurrence. Results: There is little standardization among available studies, yielding different results not always comparable between one another. Discussion: Though further, high quality studies are needed, properly controlled to the several confounding variables present, there may be a tendency towards a reduced cancer recurrence rate in some types of malignancy when regional techniques are used intraoperatively (either alone or in combination). Conclusion: Further investigation is needed to produce solid results capable of backing up strong recommendations for action. Facing the current evidence, we have defined three groups of possible recommendations for anesthesia in this setting in the light of current knowledge.