“Scalp Coolers” May Lessen Cancer Hair Loss

After finding out you have cancer, how serious it is and how it may be treated, a common worry is the loss of hair. Hair is a big thing in our society and both men and women often put a lot of time and effort into how their hair looks. The loss of the hair almost seems like the final straw – an emotional hurt that takes a lot out of you.

There are ways that people cope, from buying a wardrobe of funky hats and colorful scarves to buying wigs of similar hair or something completely different. Others embrace their baldness and don’t cover up.

Scalp Cooler from Paxman Coolers Ltd.

A new idea has come to market that, while maybe sounding a bit “out there,” seems to be helping patients who are losing their hair and studies are finding that it may have some benefit. Called a scalp cooler, the device does exactly what the name says. It cools down the scalp to try to help preserve the hair.

A study that was presented this year at the 2009 ASCO Annual Meeting (American Society of Clinical Oncology) found that this can be effective. Researchers looked at 120 women who were being treated with breast cancer. The chemotherapy regimen they were receiving was known to cause hair loss in most patients.

The women were divided into two groups, one group had the scalp cooler, the other didn’t. The women who used the scalp cooler wore it throughout the chemotherapy infusion and for 20 minutes before and 2 hours after.

According to the study findings:

61.7 % of patients in scalp cooling group had grade 4 [significant] hair loss compared to 81.7 % of patients in control group. After 6 cycles, 85% of patients in scalp cooling group experienced grade 4 hair loss compared to 100% of patients in the control group. Only 9 patients (15%) in the scalp cooling group developed grade 1-2 [minimal to moderate] hair loss.

The study authors concluded that the optimal effectiveness of the scalp cooler lies in the shorter dose regimens.

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Image: Paxman Coolers Ltd.