Combined Effect of Opioids and Corticosteroids for Alleviating Dyspnea in Terminal Cancer Patients: A Retrospective Review.

Dyspnea is a prognostic factor that affects the quality of life of terminal cancer patients, and many reports have described opioid treatment for dyspnea alleviation. Here, we retrospectively evaluated differences in the effects of various opioids administered concomitantly with corticosteroids on dyspnea in 20 terminal-stage cancer patients (13 men, 7 women; mean age [range]: 71 [49-94] years) who received opioids concomitantly with corticosteroids. Effectiveness was assessed throughout administration using the Support Team Assessment Schedule, Japanese version (STAS-J), particularly the subscale indicating how strongly a patient is affected by symptoms. The effectiveness of combined opioid and corticosteroid therapy against dyspnea and the opioid dose comprised the primary and secondary foci, respectively. Among concomitantly treated patients, STAS-J scores at initiation (mean ± SD: 3.1 ± 0.24) and lowest recorded STAS-J scores (1.4 ± 0.22) differed significantly (P = .0034) among those receiving morphine, but not among those receiving oxycodone (P = .068) or fentanyl (P = .18). Concomitant opioid and corticosteroid treatment was associated with a ≥2-point STAS-J score improvement in 14/20 patients (effectiveness: 70%). The opioid dose did not significantly affect dyspnea alleviation. We conclude that concomitant opioid and corticosteroid treatment can effectively alleviate dyspnea in terminal cancer patients.