Steroid treatment for brain tumours

• A quick guide to what's on this page
• What steroids are
• Steroids for brain tumours
• Side effects

Steroids occur naturally in the body, but in tiny amounts. They are very powerful anti-inflammatories. An anti-inflammatory is a drug that helps to stop swelling.

It is common to have steroids as part of your treatment for a brain tumour. If you have a brain tumour, your specialist may recommend steroids

• When you are first diagnosed
• Before and after surgery
• Before and after radiotherapy
• For an advanced brain tumour

When you are first diagnosed, you are most likely to have steroids to reduce swelling. The tumour has been growing inside your skull, taking up space and increasing the pressure inside your head. It is this pressure increase that causes headaches, sickness and fits. After successful treatment for the brain tumour, your specialist will slowly reduce your steroid dose.

Surgery and radiotherapy can both increase swelling at first. So your specialist will wait until this has worn off before reducing your steroid dose.

Remember - it is extremely important to take your steroids exactly as your doctor has told you. Steroids occur naturally in your body. When you take steroid tablets, the unusually large amounts in your bloodstream stop your body from making its own supply. So if you stop taking your tablets suddenly, the level of steroids wil very suddenly drop. This can be extremely dangerous. Never just stop taking your tablets. Cut them down gradually, with the help and advice of your doctor.

A brain tumour may be too advanced to respond well to treatment when it is first diagnosed. Or it may come back after being treated before. In both these situations, it may be growing and making your symptoms worse. Steroids can help to keep symptoms under control for as long as possible.

Steroids are important chemicals in the body and have a lot of different effects. So when you take steroid tablets, there are a lot of possible side effects

• Weight gain and water retention
• Increased appetite
• Sugar in your urine (diabetes), causing increased thirst, passing a lot of urine and if untreated, drowsiness and even unconsciousness
• Difficulty sleeping
• Changes in mood: high spirits or more rarely, paranoia, depression or hallucination
• Increased risk of infection
• Hiding symptoms of infection (so that the infection becomes more severe before it is discovered)
• Stomach irritation, which can lead to an ulcer (always take tablets with food)
• An acne type rash
• Skin thinning, causing stretch marks
• Flushing and night sweats
• Muscle wasting with long term use
• Bone thinning with long term use

Remember that steroids have important benefits too and you may only get a few of these side effects. And the risks of harm from any of these side effects are slight compared to the good they are doing.

Your side effects will disappear once you have finished your steroid treatment. There is a slight possibility of having permanent diabetes after long term treatment, but your doctor will be watching out for this and will try to prevent it if at all possible.

You can find out more about steroids and their side effects in the cancer treatment section.