Enhancement of Antitumor Immunity after Propofol Treatment in Mice

Abstract

Propofol and midazolam are the most widely used sedatives in the intensive care setting after surgery. We studied whether these sedatives had any antitumor immunity effects in mice. Mice were given intraperitoneal injections of propofol or midazolam and subcutaneous inoculation of tumor cells (EL4). Then, spleen cells were collected and the in vitro activity of cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTL) was measured using flow cytometry. The in vitro activity of CTL against EL4 was significantly greater after propofol injection compared with its vehicle (Intralipid) or saline. Midazolam had no effect on CTL activity. We also studied whether tumor growth in vivo was affected by the administration of propofol. Tumor growth was significantly suppressed in mice that were given propofol, compared with tumor growth in mice given saline. Therefore, it is concluded that propofol may have a beneficial effect on antitumor immunity in mice.

Anaesthesia for oncological surgery – can it really influence cancer recurrence?

“…Isoflurane, but not propofol, has been found to increase hypoxiainducible factor-1a and its downstream effectors to promote renal cell carcinoma survival [35] and, in contrast, propofol has been found to inhibit hypoxia-inducible factors in prostate cancer [38]. This is in keeping with total intravenous anaesthesia's predominantly anticancer effects from the literature, and in preclinical data, propofol inhibits invasion of cancer cells [39], is anti-metastatic [40], inhibits the proliferation and migration of oesophageal cancer [41] and induces apoptosis in non-small cell lung cancer, colon cancer and ovarian cancer cells [42].…”

Differential effects of propofol and isoflurane on the activation of T‐helper cells in lung cancer patients

“…It has been reported that propofol anaesthesia attenuates surgery-induced immune suppression [16][17][18][19]. However, little information is available about its effects on CD28 and IL-12, or if its effects differ from those of volatile agents such as isoflurane.…”

Anesthetic drug propofol inhibits the expression of interleukin‑6, interleukin‑8 and cyclooxygenase‑2, a potential mechanism for propofol in suppressing tumor development and metastasis

“…Miao et al (30) has also shown that propofol is able to significantly decrease the invasive activity of human colon carcinoma cells. In animal studies (31,32), propofol exerted antitumor activities by modulating immune reaction. However, it is unclear whether propofol exhibits inhibitory effects on tumor metastasis and proliferation.…”