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Review
. 2021 Sep-Oct;35(5):2513-2519.
doi: 10.21873/invivo.12532.

Effects of the Hypnotic Alkylphenol Derivative Propofol on Breast Cancer Progression. A Focus on Preclinical and Clinical Studies

Sabrina Bimonte  1 , Marco Cascella  2 , Cira Antonietta Forte  2 , Gennaro Esposito  2 , Francesco Del Prato  2 , Nicola Raiano  3 , Paola Del Prete  4 , Arturo Cuomo  2
Affiliations
Review

Effects of the Hypnotic Alkylphenol Derivative Propofol on Breast Cancer Progression. A Focus on Preclinical and Clinical Studies

Sabrina Bimonte et al. In Vivo. 2021 Sep-Oct.

Abstract

Propofol is a hypnotic alkylphenol derivative with many biological activities. It is predominantly used in anesthesia and is the most used parenteral anesthetic agent in the United States. Accumulating preclinical studies have shown that this compound may inhibit cancer recurrence and metastasis. Nevertheless, other investigations provided evidence that this compound may promote breast cancer cell progression by modulating different molecular pathways. Clinical data on this topic are scarce and derive from retrospective analyses. For this reason, we reviewed and evaluated the available data to reveal insight into this controversial issue. More preclinical and clinical investigations are necessary to determine the potential role of propofol in the proliferation of breast cancer cells.

Keywords: Propofol; breast cancer; cancer migration; cell proliferation; intravenous anesthetic; review.

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Conflict of interest statement

The Authors declare no conflicts of interest.

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