Hair Shaft Abnormalities After Chemotherapy and Tamoxifen Therapy in Patients With Breast Cancer Evaluated by Optical Coherence Tomography

October 2012 in “ British Journal of Dermatology ”

Judith Lindner, Kathrin Hillmann, Ulrike Blume‐Peytavi, Juergen Lademann, Anke Lux, Andrea Stroux, Achim Schneider, Natalie Garcia Bartels

chemotherapy tamoxifen optical coherence tomography hair shaft abnormalities terminal hairs intermediate hairs hair diameter frontal miniaturization hair structure changes OCT

Studysummary Chemotherapy can cause significant hair thinning and changes in hair texture, while tamoxifen has a smaller effect. Our plain-language summary of this paper — not a Tressless recommendation.

The study assessed hair shaft abnormalities in 34 women with breast cancer, aged 29–68, who were treated with either chemotherapy or tamoxifen, using optical coherence tomography (OCT). Results showed that chemotherapy led to a significant reduction in hair shaft diameter (15% decrease) and an increase in form factor, especially in the occipital area, indicating a mix of terminal and intermediate hairs in regrown hair. In contrast, tamoxifen therapy did not result in significant changes, although a slight reduction in hair diameter after 28 weeks suggested potential frontal miniaturization. The study confirmed subjective reports of hair structure changes post-chemotherapy and demonstrated the utility of OCT in quantifying these changes, emphasizing the need for further research to understand the duration of these changes and to develop preventive or therapeutic strategies.

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