Lidocaine Infusion in Pancreatic Cancer

The primary objective of this study is to determine the effect of IV lidocaine infusion on various enzymatic activities and associated pathways in isolated CTCs as well as the number of CTCs during the perioperative period in patients undergoing robotic pancreatectomy for pancreatic cancer. It is expected that by downregulating the pathways by lidocaine might affect the enzymatic activity in those CTCs as well as the number of CTCs in the circulation. A prospective randomized controlled double blinded trial design will be used for the proposed study. Patients undergoing robotic pancreatectomy for pancreatic cancer will be randomized (ratio 1:1) into two groups: one group will receive a 24-h normal saline infusion and the second group will receive a 24-h lidocaine infusion. Blood samples will be collected in different times perioperatively in order to evaluate the objectives of the study.