Management of Alopecia Due to Cancer Therapies

The 2018 document addresses the issue of hair loss due to cancer treatments, particularly chemotherapy-induced alopecia (CIA). It explains that anticancer agents disrupt normal hair growth cycles, especially the anagen phase, leading to hair loss that can be permanent if follicle stem cells are damaged. The document notes the psychological impact of CIA on patients and the importance of management strategies, including scalp cooling and pharmacological treatments like topical minoxidil. Scalp cooling is emphasized as an effective preventive measure, with a meta-analysis and a large cohort study from the Dutch Scalp Cooling Registry supporting its ability to preserve hair in 50% of patients. The document also calls for better measurement tools for CIA and patient-reported outcomes to improve research and treatment protocols.