Propofol reduces MMPs expression by inhibiting NF-κB activity in human MDA-MB-231 cells.

Propofol is a common clinical anesthesia agent which is now widely used in relieving pain of patients with chronic cancer as an adjuvant therapy. In our study, we found another effect of propofol in the therapy of chronic cancer patients. We used the breast cancer cell lines to detect the effects and molecular mechanisms of clinically relevant concentrations of propofol, finding that propofol reduced the level of MMP breast cancer by inhibition of NF-κB pathways, which restrained migration and invasion of breast cancer cells significantly. Our finding provides a new sight into propofol in cancer treatment and, suggesting that propofol not only can be an anesthesia agent which reduces pain but plays a important role of inhibiting the invasion and migration of breast cancer cells in the therapy of chronic breast cancer patients.