Spots Global Cancer Trial Database for Regional Anaesthesia and Substance P in Head and Neck Cancer

Study Description

Brief Summary: In the clinical trial the investigators will observe the impact of regional anesthesia in addition to a general anesthesia on the expression of substance P in patients with unilateral Head or Neck cancer undergoing unilateral Neck Dissection. The investigators will perform an unilateral regional cervical plexus block on the tumor side. The tissue of the tumor side will be analysed by immunohistology, measuring the expression of the Substance P.

Detailed Description: Several investigations show that anesthetic procedures, and especially the perioperative regional anesthesia, can have a benefit for patients undergoing tumor surgery.The perioperative regional anesthesia might reduce the immunological response and therefore lower the risk of tumor relapse. Factors that might play a role in tumor relapse are various, so more prospective and randomised trials are necessary to investigate the underlying mechanisms. In a retrospective analysis by Merquiol et al. it was shown that an cervical epidural anesthesia was associated with an extended tumorfree timeline of larynx and hypopharynx carcinoma. Supporting results could be seen in a study by Munoz et al. performing regional anaesthesia in breast cancer patients. Taking all these facts into consideration the investigators believe that performing regional aneasthesia could reduce the relapse of larynx carcinoma. The relapse of carcinoma is believed to be linked to substance P and the neurokinin 1 (NK-1) receptor . It is accepted that an additional regional anesthesia could reduce the impact of substance P to gain a normal immune response in the perioperative setting and to reduce the rate of tumor relapse.

Keywords

Eligibility

Minimum Age: 18 Years

Eligible Ages: ADULT, OLDER_ADULT

Sex: ALL

Healthy Volunteers: No

Locations

Contact Details

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