Suicide Associated with Corticosteroid Use During Chemotherapy: Case Report

Corticosteroids are widely known to have a variety of adverse mental effects. Although corticosteroids are frequently used to prevent vomiting induced by chemotherapeutic agent, their mental effects have received little attention in oncology settings. We report the case of a patient who experienced severe depressive symptoms after both the first and second course of treatment with a corticosteroid during chemotherapy and ultimately committed suicide. The temporal and dose-response relationships suggested a possible association between the depressive symptoms and corticosteroid. We ultimately speculated that corticosteroid withdrawal induced the depressive symptoms in this case. This case should alert clinical oncologists to pay attention to mental symptoms after prescribing a corticosteroid.