Anesthetic Techniques and Cancer Outcomes: What Is the Current Evidence?

It is almost 2 decades since it was first hypothesized that anesthesia technique might modulate cancer biology and thus potentially influence patients' long-term outcomes after cancer surgery. Since then, research efforts have been directed towards elucidating the potential pharmacological and physiological basis for the effects of anesthetic and perioperative interventions on cancer cell biology. In this review, we summarize current laboratory and clinical data.