Anesthesia and Cancer: Something More than Avoiding Stress Response

Currently, an increasing prevalence has been reported in incidences of tumor pathologies. The influence of anesthetics drugs has been the subject of numerous studies. It has been reported that the use of certain drugs may have an impact on prognosis and survival. By investigating the action of these drugs on different metabolic pathways and their mechanisms of action, we can better understand how they influence various hallmarks of carcinogenesis and determine their potential impact on cancer progression. Some of the action pathways are widely known within oncology, being targets of specific treatments, such as PI3k/AKT/mTOR, EGFR, and Wnt/β-catenin. This review performs a thorough dissection of the interaction between anesthetic drugs and oncological cell lines through cell signaling pathways and genetic, immune, and transcriptomic pathways. Through these underlying mechanisms, it aims to clarify the effect of the choice of anesthetic drug and its potential influence on the prognosis of oncological surgery.