Sweating associated with a paraneoplastic syndrome

For sweating associated with a paraneoplastic syndrome, including cancer-related fever, paracetamol or a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) (eg naproxen) can be useful, particularly for night sweats; for dosages, see Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs for pain in palliative care.

Assess the effectiveness of drug therapy and consider stopping if no benefit is apparent after 3 days, or sooner if the patient experiences adverse effects.

Sweating associated with cancer-related fever may respond to short-term low-dose corticosteroids; use:

dexamethasone 4 mg orally, daily. Assess after 1 week and stop if there is no benefit. If there is benefit, reduce to the lowest effective dose and use for the shortest possible time. For advice on stopping dexamethasone, see Rationalising corticosteroids used for symptom or complication management in palliative care. dexamethasone

If sweating persists despite the above therapy, see Undifferentiated or other causes of sweating in palliative care.

For general information on paraneoplastic syndromes, see Paraneoplastic syndromes in palliative care.