Scalp cooling to reduce alopecia as a barrier to chemotherapy.

Abstract

e12537 Background: Chemotherapy induced alopecia (CIA) is one of the most distressing adverse events reported by patients undergoing chemotherapy, yet there is limited data addressing the impact of CIA on treatment acceptance. Scalp cooling (SC) has been shown to decrease CIA. Here we report our assessment of CIA as a barrier to chemotherapy and the efficacy of SC using pre- and post-treatment surveys of patient reported outcomes. Methods: Patients who received alopecia-inducing chemotherapy and utilized SC between November 2018 and September 2020 at our institution were enrolled in a prospective IRB approved registry. Surveys including the Chemotherapy Induced Alopecia Distress Scale (CADS) were administered before and within two weeks after treatment. Using the CADS survey, patients were asked about their hesitation to receive chemotherapy and the burden they feel about alopecia as a side effect of chemotherapy. Results: Of 90 patients who completed the first or last treatment survey, the most common treatment regimens were docetaxel/cyclophosphamide (TC), docetaxel/carboplatin/trastuzumab/ pertuzumab (TCHP), and paclitaxel/trastuzumab (TH). The most common disease type was breast cancer (92.2%) and all participants were females. Of 74 SC patients who completed the pre-treatment survey, the median age was 50.5 (range 26-75) and included 65 (87.8%) Caucasian, 4 (5.4%) Black, and 3 (4.0%) Asian patients. 89.2% used Paxman SC and 10.8% used Penguin SC. Of those who completed the CADS survey prior to treatment, 8 (10.8%) reported ‘quite a bit’ to ‘very high’ hesitation, and 34 (46.0%) reported feeling that alopecia was either ‘quite’ or ‘very much’ a burden of chemotherapy. All 40 SC patients (median age 53.5, range 31-76) who completed the post-treatment survey were Caucasian and used Paxman SC. Self-reported efficacy of SC in these 40 patients was less than 10% hair loss in 10 (25.0%), 11-25% hair loss in 7 (17.5%), 26-50% hair loss in10 (25.0%), 51-75% hair loss in 9 (22.5%), and 76-100% hair loss in 4 (10%). Overall, 27 (67.5%) patients reported SC limited alopecia ‘a lot’ to ‘perfectly’. Conclusions: In our study, alopecia was identified as a notable burden to nearly half our SC patients and 10.8% hesitated when making their decision to receive chemotherapy. After using SC during treatment, 67.5% of patients reported less than 50% hair loss, and 67.5% reported that SC reduced alopecia ‘a lot’ or ‘perfectly’. Our study highlights the significance of alopecia as a chemotherapy burden and potential barrier to accepting treatment, and suggests SC may be efficacious in decreasing CIA, which may allow patients to feel less hesitation towards chemotherapy.