ERALOP Study: Post Adjuvant FEC-Docetaxel Chemotherapy for Early Breast Cancer: Hair Regrowth in Real Life
May 2015
in “
Cancer research
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TLDR After chemotherapy for early breast cancer, 33.4% of patients had long-term significant hair loss, with some hair regrowth over time, but treatments for hair loss were largely ineffective.
The ERALOP study, conducted in 2015, retrospectively examined the incidence of persistent significant alopecia (PSA) in 829 patients who underwent FEC 100-docetaxel 100 mg/msq chemotherapy for early breast cancer between 2008 and 2009. Six months after the last docetaxel course, 8.6% of patients experienced grade 2 PSA (hair loss > 50% with a psychosocial impact), 32.6% had grade 1 PSA (hair loss of up to 50%), and 56% had no PSA. At the time of the inquiry (median follow-up of 3.7 years), the global PSA incidence was 33.4%. Between 6 months after the last docetaxel course and the time of the inquiry, slight or total hair regrowth was observed in patients with PSA grade 2 and 1. However, many patients experienced suboptimal regrowth of eyelash (31%), eyebrow (47%), pubic hair (27%), and nail disorders (27%). All oral treatments tested, including dexpanthenol, biotin, methionine cysteine, and cystin-vitamin B6, showed no efficacy, while topical minoxidil showed slight efficacy. The high level of PSA led to the ALOPREV trial to investigate the use of a cooling cap during docetaxel infusion to prevent alopecia.
