Retrospective analysis of corticosteroid doses administered to patients with terminal cancer for dyspnea alleviation and survival

Abstract

Dyspnea negatively affects the survival and quality of life of patients with terminal cancer. Although corticosteroids are currently used to treat dyspnea, the association between corticosteroid dosage and survival remains unclear. This retrospective study was conducted to determine the relationship betweencorticosteroid doses, administered to hospitalized patients with terminal cancer for dyspnea alleviation, and survival. Subsequently, we investigated the associations between corticosteroid doses, which were classified into three categories, and the length of survival in days after stratifying 52 patients treated between January 2012 and December 2015 into corticosteroid responders and non-responders. The mean daily corticosteroid doses were 28.68 ± 14.4 mg for responders and 29.13 ± 18.5 mg for non-responders. The mean corticosteroid doses on the first day were 27.86 ± 14.9 mg for responders and 27.73 ± 19.5 mg for non-responders. The mean total corticosteroid doses administered during the first 2 days of treatment were 56.84 ± 29.2 mg for responders and 57.16 ± 38.5 mg for non-responders. The mean survival was 11.33 ± 7.5 days and 5.27 ± 3.35 days among responders and non-responders, respectively. In conclusion, the administration of corticosteroid for dyspnea alleviation did not correlate with survival. However, reactivity to corticosteroids increased the duration of corticosteroid use, which may have contributed to survival.