Management of Chemotherapy-Induced Alopecia Using a Topical Botanical Lotion via a Proposed Triple-Action on Apoptosis, Inflammation, and Collagen
July 2016
in “
Cancer Research
”
TLDR A topical lotion helped manage hair loss from chemotherapy by affecting cell death, inflammation, and collagen, with no side effects.
In 2016, a study was conducted to test a novel topical botanical lotion for the management of chemotherapy-induced alopecia (CIA), a distressing side effect of cancer therapies. The study involved 20 subjects with androgenetic alopecia (AGA) and 25 healthy volunteers for Bcl-2 level analysis, 11 AGA subjects for collagen analysis, and 30 female cancer patients suffering from CIA for efficacy and tolerance assessment. The results showed that the product restored Bcl-2 levels, increased collagen content by 79.93%, inhibited TNFα-induced expressions of E-selectin, ICAM-1 & il-8, and allowed faster hair recovery in CIA patients (5-16 weeks quicker than historical control). For "long-term CIA" patients, improvements were observed in 33%, 52%, and 76% of subjects after 1, 2, and 3 months, respectively. No side effects were reported. The study concluded that the topical product could manage CIA through local actions on apoptosis, inflammation, and collagen.
