HIF1A and cancer: Additional studies of co-culture models with the the colon cancer cell line SW620 [299] and the gastric cancer cell line BGC-823 [300] have also shown that propofol promotes NK cell cytotoxicity in vitro. Thus, propofol’s anti-cancer effects may be mediated by enhanced NK cell killing, although other hypothesized mechanisms include inhibition of oncogenes and the downregulation of HIF-1α and subsequent inhibition of angiogenesis [301].