Steroids, cancer and vertebral fractures: a dreaded combination

Abstract

Hyporexia/anorexia is a relevant clinical problem affecting the quality of life of many cancer patients. Corticosteroids are the first drugs evaluated in placebo-controlled trials for the palliation of cancer anorexia resulting in a temporary improvement in appetite. However, this measure should be balanced with its secondary events. A frequent side effect mainly after long-term treatment with steroids is the loss of bone mass, which causes osteoporosis and vertebral fractures. But this secondary event might also appear after short courses of steroids. Percutaneous vertebroplasty is an effective treatment of painful osteoporotic compression fractures, minimally invasive and with very low morbidity, which is very useful to improve quality of life in these patients. We present here a case of a 71-year-old woman, with history of osteoporosis, who developed a painful vertebral fracture after a short course of steroids to alleviate anorexia secondary to cancer treatment.