Can Infusion of Lidocaine During Breast Cancer Surgery Promote Higher In-vitro Apoptosis in Comparison with Fentanyl?

Background: Although several numbers of the common anesthetic drugs are frequently used in breast cancer (BC) surgery, their possible effects on the behavior of cancer cells are still unknown. Objectives: The main objective of the present study was to examine the effect of administered lidocaine versus fentanyl during BC surgery on the apoptosis index of BC cells in-vitro. Methods: Patients with BC with the same grade of cancer and American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) score I–III, who underwent surgery were randomly divided into 2 groups of lidocaine and fentanyl infusion based on the analgesic drugs they received. Blood samples were drawn before and after the surgery and then cells from the BC cell line (MCF-7) were exposed to them at 24, 48, and 72 hours post-culture. Flow cytometry was performed to measure the mean percentage of apoptosis index; To investigate the cells’ viability, 3-(4,5-Dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay was also applied. Results: Sixty patients were enrolled. Quantitative cell death analysis revealed that the proportion of apoptotic cells in both lidocaine and fentanyl groups significantly increased when the cells were treated with post-operation sera compared to pre-operation sera exposure at various time intervals. In both groups, intra-group cell death analysis showed that there was not any statistically significant difference among the cultured cells exposed to pre-operation sera at various interval times (P < 0.001) with respect to apoptosis and cell viability. Conclusions: The study findings proposed that lidocaine infusion can reach the apoptosis index of BC cells in-vitro, as much as that fentanyl did; and both drugs had significant effects.