TABLE 1.

The biological function of propofol in cancer cell by regulation signalling pathways or downstream molecules

The role of propofol in oncogenesis	Cancer types	Signalling pathways regulated by propofol	Function	Ref.
Promotes oncogenesis	Gallbladder cancer	Activates Nrf2	Induces cells proliferation and invasion	17
	Breast cancer	Activates Nrf2 and downregulates p53	Induces cells migration and proliferation	18
Suppresses oncogenesis	Colon cancer	Downregulates MMPs	Inhibits cells invasion	19
	Breast cancer	Downregulates MMPs via suppression of NF‐κB pathways	Inhibits cells invasion and migration	20
	Cervical cancer	Downregulates mTOR/p70S6K	Inhibits cells viability and induces apoptosis	30
	Glioma	Downregulates Wnt pathway	Inhibits cells growth and induces apoptosis	31
	Non‐small cell lung cancer	Activates ERK1/2‐dependent PUMA pathway	Inhibits cells viability and induces apoptosis	32
	Cholangiocarcinoma	Downregulates Bcl‐2, upregulates Bax and inhibits Wnt/β‐catenin pathway	Inhibits cells metastasis and apoptosis	33
	Leydig cell cancer	Activates caspase and inhibits Akt pathway	Induces apoptosis	34
	Colorectal cancer	Inhibits NMDAR‐CAMKII‐ERK pathway	Inhibits cells glycolysis and cancer progression	35
	Thyroid cancer	Blocks Wnt/β‐catenin and NF‐κB pathways	Promotes cells growth and metastasis	36
	Leukaemia stem cell	Suppresses Akt/mTOR and Wnt/β‐catenin	Inhibits cells self‐renewal	37
	Gastric cancer	Upregulates ING3	Induces anti‐tumour effects	38
	Oral squamous cell carcinoma	Upregulates FoxO1	Inhibits cells proliferation and induces apoptosis	39
	Endometrial cancer	Downregulates Sox4	Inhibits cells proliferation, migration and invasion	40
	Cardia cancer	Inhibits MAPK/ERK signalling pathway	Inhibits cells proliferation and induces apoptosis	41

Abbreviations: Akt, protein kinase B; Bax, B‐cell lymphoma‐2 associated X; Bcl‐2, B‐cell lymphoma‐2; CAMKII, calcium/calmodulin‐dependent protein kinase II; ERK1/2, extracellular signal‐regulated kinases 1 and 2; FoxO1, Forkhead Box O1; ING3, inhibitor of growth 3; MAPK, mitogen‐activated protein kinase; MMP, matrix metalloproteinase; mTOR, mammalian target of rapamycin; NF‐κB, nuclear factor‐kappa B; NMDAR, N‐methyl‐D‐aspartate receptor; Nrf2, nuclear factor E2‐related factor‐2; p53, Tumour Protein P53; p70S6K, p70 ribosomal protein S6 kinase; Sox4, SRY‐box transcription factor 4; Wnt, wingless and proto‐oncogene integration‐1.