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Secondary Analysis of the CAN-Study, a Randomised Controlled Trial - Local Anaesthesia and Overall Survival
Mats Enlund1,2,3,4, Anders Berglund5, Leif Bergkvist1
1Center for Clinical Research, Västmanland Hospital Västerås, University of Uppsala, Sweden.
Acta Anaesthesiologica Scandinavica
|May 29, 2026
Summary
Local anaesthetic infiltration during breast cancer surgery showed no association with long-term survival in this study. Further research is needed to clarify the interaction between anaesthetics and cancer outcomes.
Area of Science:
- Oncology
- Anesthesiology
Background:
- Investigated the potential impact of local anaesthetic infiltration during breast cancer surgery on long-term survival.
- Exploratory data analysis of the Cancer and Anaesthesia (CAN) study.
- Examined association between anaesthetic exposure and cancer outcomes.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate long-term survival in breast cancer patients based on the use of local anaesthetics.
- To determine if peritumoral local anaesthetic infiltration impacts survival rates.
- To analyze the association between anaesthetic exposure and cancer outcomes.
Main Methods:
- Secondary analysis of a randomized controlled trial (RCT) involving 1670 breast cancer patients.
- Compared long-term survival using Kaplan-Meier curves for patients receiving local/regional anaesthesia versus none.
- Data collected on local anaesthetic skin infiltration, paravertebral block, or combined methods.
Main Results:
- No significant difference in overall survival observed between patients receiving any local/regional anaesthesia (n=945) and those receiving none (n=725; p=0.54).
- No significant differences in survival among the four groups (p=0.89).
- Median follow-up was 76.8 months.
Conclusions:
- Local anaesthetic skin infiltration or regional anaesthesia was not associated with improved long-term survival in this secondary analysis.
- The results do not support a large effect of these anaesthetic techniques on survival.
- The interaction between regional anaesthesia, local anaesthetics, and cancer natural history remains unclear.
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