Publication Name	World Journal of Gastrointestinal Surgery
Manuscript ID	116619
Country	China

Category	Anesthesiology
Manuscript Type	Letter to the Editor
Article Title	Toward immune-adaptive anesthesia: Rethinking dexmedetomidine beyond sedation in gastrointestinal cancer surgery
Manuscript Source	Invited Manuscript
All Author List	Chu-Chu Hu, Ning Li, Bo-Yi Wang, Yong-Wei Yu and Wei Yu
Funding Agency and Grant Number
Corresponding Author	Yong-Wei Yu, Department of Intensive Care Unit, The First Affiliated Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, No. 79 Qingchun Road, Shangcheng District, Hangzhou 310003, Zhejiang Province, China. yuyongwei@zju.edu.cn
Key Words	Dexmedetomidine; Postoperative recovery; Gastrointestinal cancer surgery; Perioperative care; Immune-adaptive anesthesia
Core Tip	Anesthetic agents influence postoperative recovery far beyond sedation. This letter introduces the concept of immune-adaptive anesthesia, highlighting dexmedetomidine’s capacity to modulate perioperative immune balance and accelerate recovery after gastrointestinal cancer surgery. By integrating anesthetic immunomodulation with surgical precision and evidence-based nursing interventions-such as thermoregulation, stress control, and early mobilization-the perioperative team can collectively enhance immune resilience, reduce complications, and achieve more holistic, patient-centered recovery outcomes in oncologic surgery.
Citation	Hu CC, Li N, Wang BY, Yu YW, Yu W. Toward immune-adaptive anesthesia: Rethinking dexmedetomidine beyond sedation in gastrointestinal cancer surgery. World J Gastrointest Surg 2025; In press

Received	2025-11-17 03:15
Peer-Review Started	2025-11-17 03:15
First Decision by Editorial Office Director	2025-11-24 12:00
Return for Revision	2025-11-24 12:00
Revised	2025-12-04 16:31
Publication Fee Transferred
Second Decision by Editor	2025-12-31 02:31
Second Decision by Editor-in-Chief
Final Decision by Editorial Office Director	2025-12-31 06:52
Articles in Press	2025-12-31 06:52
Edit the Manuscript by Language Editor
Typeset the Manuscript

ISSN	1948-9366 (online)
Open Access	This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Copyright	© The Author(s) 2025. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
Permissions	For details, please visit: http://www.wjgnet.com/bpg/gerinfo/207
Publisher	Baishideng Publishing Group Inc, 7041 Koll Center Parkway, Suite 160, Pleasanton, CA 94566, USA
Website	http://www.wjgnet.com