Survival rates of breast carcinoma patients after surgery and anaesthetic

Eighty-nine breast cancer patients were studied for the end result of therapy. During surgery, the anaesthesia administered was either halothane (61 cases) or ether (28 cases) mixture with nitrogen and oxygen. The holstead method for mastectomy was used for all cases. The results showed that the type of anaesthesia influenced the end results of therapy of breast cancer patients. The survival rates of patients receiving halothane were much higher than those of ether anaesthetized cases. The differences were most pronounced among cases who received both preoperative radiotherapy and postoperative chemotherapy, and in cases with metastasis into regional lymph node. A comparison of groups of patients on the basis of such parameters as the anaesthetic used, age and degree of tumor progression (according to TNM classification and post-operative histological assays) showed them to well matched. These results may be explained by the effects of the anaesthesia on the role of immunity in controlling tumor cell implantation and growth of metastasis.