Care for Alopecia During Chemotherapy of Cancer Patients

The document from 12 years ago discussed chemotherapy-induced alopecia (CIA), a common and emotionally distressing side effect of cancer treatment, affecting an estimated 65% of patients. CIA is caused by certain chemotherapeutic drugs like anthracyclines and taxanes, with the incidence and severity depending on the dose, administration route, rate, schedule, and peak blood level of the drug. The keratinocytes of hair follicles are susceptible to apoptosis induced by these drugs. While CIA is usually reversible, there have been reports of permanent cases. At the time of the document, there were no effective methods for preventing CIA, but several experimental studies were evaluating the development of pharmacological agents to overcome it. The document emphasized that the management of CIA should be individualized based on each patient's needs.