Prevention of Chemotherapy-induced Alopecia: Experience of a Cancer Center in Romania

Abstract

"Background: Chemotherapy still represents the backbone of systemic treatment for many solid tumors. Alopecia remains one of its most distressing side effects. Scalp cooling is an effective strategy to reduce the risk of alopecia induced by chemotherapy, therefore this study aimed to assess the efficiency of DigniCap scalp-cooling system in our center. Material&Methods: 113 patients diagnosed with solid tumors, who underwent chemotherapy using the DigniCap scalp-cooling system in our center between January 2018 - December 2020, were included in the study. Alopecia was evaluated by the physician according to Dean’s scale at baseline and after the last cycle of chemotherapy. The primary endpoint was to evaluate scalp-cooling efficiency defined by a Dean's scale score of 0–2 (hair loss ≤50%). Results: 78 (72.3%) out of the 113 patients who used scalp cooling presented hair loss of 50% or less, the majority were females (91.2%) and had a diagnosis of breast cancer (49.6%) or gynecological cancer (27.4%). The mean number of chemotherapy cycles using DigniCap was 4.82 cycles. Hair loss greater than 50% of the scalp surface was observed in 27.7% of patients, the highest grade of alopecia being observed for anthracycline-based chemotherapy. No serious adverse events were reported. Conclusion: The results of this study support the evidence existing so far in the literature. Among patients who underwent chemotherapy for various cancer types, the DigniCap System significantly prevented hair loss and we consider that it should be integrated in the supportive care of patients."