Glucocorticoids as an adjunct to oncologic treatment in solid malignancies – not an innocent bystander

Endogenous glucocorticoids are steroidal hormones essential to sustaining human life. Synthetic glucocorticoids have been utilized for medicinal purposes for over 70 years (Kadmiel and Cidlowski, 2013), first prescribed for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis. Glucocorticoids were first used for the treatment of cancer as part of the treatment protocol of leukemia. They were later used for the treatment of many hematological malignancies due to their ability to mediate apoptosis in leukemia, lymphoma and myeloma cells (Greenstein et al., 2002; Frankfurt and Rosen, 2004).
Source: Critical Reviews in Oncology Hematology - Category: Cancer & Oncology Authors: Source Type: research