Background: Anesthetics are emerging regulators of cancer progression. Here we aim to explore the immunomodulatory roles of two common anesthetics, propofol and sevoflurane in breast cancer progression.
Methods: On murine 4T1 breast cancer models, we isolated immune cells from peripheral blood after treatment with propofol and sevoflurane during tumor resection. The CD3, CD4, and CD8 expression of these immune cells were compared using flow cytometry to determine which immune cells were prominently affected by propofol and sevoflurane. Serum cytokine levels were determined using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Metastases in lung and liver tissues were counted. In MDA-MB-231 tumor models, the cell count of immune cells was determined. The cytotoxicity of T cells and natural killing cells in co-culture after propofol and sevoflurane treatment were determined using the LDH assay.
Results: In the 4T1 breast cancer model, T-lymphocytes showed significant cell count reduction. TNF-α was significantly upregulated at 3 and 24 h after treatment, while IL-2 and IFN-γ showed transient upregulation at 3 h after treatment. Propofol and sevoflurane increased the number of metastases in the lung and liver after primary tumor resection. In the MDA-MB-231 tumor model, CD3 and CD4 cells were also prominently reduced by propofol and sevoflurane treatment. In vitro, the proliferation and cell-killing activity of T cells and NK cells were also attenuated.
Conclusions: Propofol and sevoflurane had significant effects in modulating cancer progression through their immunosuppressive role. The proliferation and killing activity of anti-tumor immune cells can be suppressed by propofol and sevoflurane.
Keywords: Propofol; anti-tumor; breast cancer; immune regulation; sevoflurane.