Influence of exogenous opioids on the acute inflammatory response in the perioperative period of oncological surgery: a clinical study.

Background: Recently, opioids have been related to trigger changes in cytokine release and tumor angiogenesis processes, influencing tumor growth, metastasis, and recurrence.

Methods: This is a prospective randomized clinical study to test whether if exogenous opioids used in the anesthesia during cancer surgery can affect the systemic inflammatory and immunological patterns. Patients were randomly allocated to the OP (opioid.