Steroids for myeloma

Steroids are drugs that can be used to help destroy myeloma cells. They can also make chemotherapy and targeted therapies more effective.

Steroids may also be used to treat a possible bone problem of myeloma, called spinal cord compression. This is when myeloma is in the bones of the spine and putting pressure on the spinal cord.

The 2 most commonly used steroids for myeloma are:

• prednisolone
• dexamethasone.

Steroids may be used on their own or in combination with other drugs. 

They are usually taken as tablets. If you have difficulty swallowing them, you can have steroids that are liquid or that dissolve.

If you only take small doses of a steroid, you may not have many side effects. If you need larger doses for longer, you may have more side effects.

Steroids are substances that are naturally produced in the body. They help to control many of the different ways our bodies work.

Steroids can also be made in a laboratory as drugs and used as a cancer treatment. They can be used to help destroy myeloma cells. They can also help to make chemotherapy and targeted therapies more effective.

We want everyone affected by cancer to feel our information is written for them.

We want our information to be as clear as possible. To do this, we try to:

• use plain English
• explain medical words
• use short sentences
• use illustrations to explain text
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We use gender-inclusive language and talk to our readers as ‘you’ so that everyone feels included. Where clinically necessary we use the terms ‘men’ and ‘women’ or ‘male’ and ‘female’. For example, we do so when talking about parts of the body or mentioning statistics or research about who is affected.

You can read more about how we produce our information here.