Suppression of mitochondrial respiration with local anesthetic ropivacaine targets breast cancer cells

Anesthetics are frequently used for surgical tumor removal and the management of chronic pain in cancer patients (1). In addition to their known effects on preoperative, intraoperative, and postoperative pain management, there is emerging evidence that specific anesthetics have an anti-cancer effect (2-4). Several retrospective studies suggest that local anesthesia reduces tumor metastasis and recurrence in patients with breast, prostate, or colon cancer undergoing mastectomy, prostatectomy, or surgery, respectively (5,6). Interestingly, many general anesthetics (e.g., opioids) are immunosuppressive and decrease a patient’s immune defenses against malignant progression (7). In contrast, some local anesthetics have an inhibitory role in tumor growth and invasion (8)