Steroids & cancer

[Guineapiggiesmalls]

My mum has lung cancer along with a brain tumour, either metastatic or a second primary - they are unable to biopsy due to her lung cancer and so cannot say for certain and therefore cannot treat it. Horrible situation.

She has been on steroids (dexamethasone) since early October when her first brain met symptoms appeared.

Has anyone any experience of how long the steroids can work on the symptoms? I’m concerned she already has some muscle wastage in her thighs which is making her mobility very precarious.

@Guineapiggiesmalls - I had Dexamethasone prescribed for me.
I have just scanned in the 'Package leaflet: Information for the user'.
(Two pages - a .pdf file)
If you 'PM' me your email address I'll send it to you - Dan

The steroids are there to reduce the inflammation surrounding the brain mets.

They don't reduce the size of the met, which over time will inevitably grow, and so symptoms get worse. However reducing the inflammation does relieve pressure on the brain so buys you some extra time without headache and worsening neurological symptoms.

Her medical team will try to maintain her on the smallest dose of steroid possible to keep symptoms under control and to minimize the side effects of the steroids.

However coming off them altogether is generally a bad idea as the inflammation comes straight back and a high dose of steroids is needed to get it back under control.

While long term steroids can cause wasting of your quads, she is effectively stuck between a rock and a hard place. It's also likely that some of the wasting is due to the cancer itself which often causes significant weight loss.

I hope your mum stays well for as long as possible. Unfortunately it's impossible to say how long the steroids will work for her. The palliative care team should be able to give you an idea of prognosis, although this is always something of an educated guess.