Novel Cancer Therapeutics: Perioperative Implications and Challenges

Since the introduction of immunotherapy and targeted therapies, patients not only have adequate tumoral response to these treatments, but their quality of life has improved due to milder toxicities. However, due to their wide mechanisms of action, the toxicity profile for these therapies is broad, can have an insidious onset, and their recognition can be challenging. Rarely, some of these toxicities can cause significant morbidity if not diagnosed early and lead to intensive care unit (ICU) admission and death. Anesthesiologists are likely to encounter not only a wide spectrum of these toxicities but also a wide range of severity. In some cases, they could be the first to make the diagnosis and therefore need to be prepared to rapidly assess, establish differentials, perform a diagnostic workup, and evaluate the impact the toxicity could have on the patients’ care during the perioperative period. In this article, we set to review toxicities of novel cancer therapies such as checkpoint inhibitors and targeted therapies, that could present in the perioperative setting. This article will help as a guide for anesthesiologists to recognize their clinical presentation, the approach to their diagnosis, and their impact on patient care.