Anesthesia and Oncology: Friend or Foe?

Cancer is a leading cause of death, and surgery is an important treatment modality. Laboratory research and retrospective studies have raised the suspicion that the choice of anesthetics for cancer surgery might affect the course of cancerous disease. The aim of this review is to provide a critical overview of the current state of knowledge.

Interleukin-6 Is an Early Plasma Marker of Severe Postoperative Complications in Thoracic Surgery: Exploratory Results From a Substudy of a Randomized Controlled Multicenter Trial.

Background: Postoperative complications in surgery are a significant burden, not only for the patients but also economically. While several predicting factors have already been identified, it is still not well known if increased levels of inflammatory markers in the immediate perioperative phase correlate with a higher incidence of postoperative complications. This study aimed to evaluate which patient characteristics and intraoperative parameters correlate with increased plasma values of monocyte chemoattractant protein 1 (MCP-1) and interleukin 6 (IL-6) of thoracic surgery patients.

Anesthesia and Circulating Tumor Cells in Primary Breast Cancer Patients: A Randomized Controlled Trial.

Background: The effect of anesthetic drugs on cancer outcomes remains unclear. This trial aimed to assess postoperative circulating tumor cell counts-an independent prognostic factor for breast cancer-to determine how anesthesia may indirectly affect prognosis. It was hypothesized that patients receiving sevoflurane would have higher postoperative tumor cell counts.

European Association of Cardiothoracic Anesthesiology (EACTA) Cardiothoracic and Vascular Anesthesia Fellowship Curriculum: First Edition.

This special article summarizes the design and certification process of the European Association of Cardiothoracic Anesthesiology (EACTA) Cardiothoracic and Vascular Anesthesia (CTVA) Fellowship Program. The CTVA fellowship training includes a two-year curriculum at an EACTA-accredited educational facility. Before fellows are accepted into the program, they must meet a number of requirements, including evidence of a valid license to practice medicine, a specialist degree examination in anesthesiology, and appropriate language skills as required in the host centers.