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Anesthesia and Surgery: A Double‐Edged Sword for the Cancer Patient
Author(s) -
Lundy Joel
Publication year - 1980
Publication title -
journal of surgical oncology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.201
H-Index - 111
eISSN - 1096-9098
pISSN - 0022-4790
DOI - 10.1002/jso.2930140109
Subject(s) - medicine , immunosuppression , perioperative , immune system , anesthetic , cancer , surgery , anesthesia , immunology
All therapeutic modalities used in cancer patients are associated with immunosuppression. Anesthesia and surgery represent a double‐edged sword. By removal of gross tumor in many patients a restoration of general immune responses can be documented. In addition, circulating antigen or antigen‐antibody complexes which block tumor‐specific immune responses can be abrogated by removal of bulk tumor. However, animal data indicates that certain anesthetic agents and major surgical procedures may enhance growth of micrometastatic tumor foci. One mechanism by which this occurs might be immunosuppression. The use of immunorestorative drugs in the perioperative period has been able to reverse this phenomenon in animal tumor models.