Corticotherapy – an important therapeutic method in cancer treatment

Improving the quality of life for the oncology patients, both in the early and in terminal stages of the disease, is one of the main goals of the therapy. Glucocorticoids are indispensable nowadays in the oncological treatment, yet more than 50 years have passed since the introduction of corticotherapy into medical practice, being used either as a single treatment, or as adjuvant therapy. The indications of corticotherapy in oncological diseases are various, the treatment being used both in oncological emergencies and in controlling the side effects of specific therapies. Cortisol (hydrocortisone) is the main corticosteroid hormone of human adrenocortex. Synthetic glucocorticoids are molecules (21 Carbon atoms) derived from the hydrocortisone formula, being used in oncological clinical practice due to their different roles and effects: cytolytic, antiemetic, analgesic, decompressive, antihypercalcemic agent, as palliative treatment in the advanced stages of the disease. Therefore, multiple indications of corticotherapy in this pathology call for the frequent use of this treatment in various stages of the oncological disease. However, the side effects of glucocorticosteroids should not be ignored, but by short-term administration, the side effects are relatively low and controllable.