Are Night Sweats a Sign of Cancer?

Cancer symptoms vary by person, type, location and stage. Treatments such as chemotherapy may cause additional symptoms. Night sweats after chemotherapy are common in cancer patients.

Sweating is the body’s physiological response to lower temperature.

Sweat glands release salt and water. Controlled by nerve cells, they occur throughout the body. Sweating continues even when not visible.

Amount varies with activity, emotional state and temperature.

Night sweats are frequent in neuroendocrine tumors, adrenal cancer, kidney cancer, lymphoma and leukemia, relatively rare cancers. They are also reported in prostate cancer.

Features of Sweating in Cancer

• Sweating and fever may result from the tumor or treatment.
• Night sweats commonly occur in female cancer patients.
• They affect sleep quality.
• Treatment depends on the underlying cause and includes tumor treatment.
• The first step is finding the primary cause.

Night Sweats Usually Are Not Caused by Cancer; Other Causes:

Night sweats usually have noncancer causes. Hyperhidrosisis a common condition of excessive daytime or nighttime sweating. It generally causes no major complaint and treatment options exist.

Many other conditions cause night sweats:

• Menopause,
• Infections,
• Low blood sugar (hypoglycemia),
• Hormonal disorders,
• Neurological conditions such as stroke,
• Anxiety or stress,
• Alcohol or drug withdrawal or addiction,
• HIV

Treatments include:

• Hormone replacement therapy (hormone replacement therapy=HRT),
• Antidepressants,
• Clonidine (used for hypertension and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder),
• Anticonvulsants (antiepileptics=medicines treating epilepsy)
• Relaxation therapies and acupuncture

Hot flashes can be controlled with estrogen, but this is not possible for some breast cancer patients. Such treatments also increase breast cancer and recurrence risks and cause cardiac-related deaths.

Similarly, estrogen-progestin, antidepressants and anticonvulsants can be used for prostate cancer patients.

Your oncologist can manage treatment-related complaints and adverse effects after proper assessment. Do not hesitate to report them to the healthcare team, allowing control before they worsen.

You May Be Interested In:

Cancer Symptoms and Treatment (By Type)

Adverse Effects in Cancer and Its Treatment