Treatment of Central Centrifugal Cicatricial Alopecia with Oral Minoxidil

In 2019, a case study was conducted on a 59-year-old African-American female suffering from Central Centrifugal Cicatricial Alopecia (CCCA), a subtype of primary cicatricial alopecia that primarily affects persons of African descent and results in progressive scarring hair loss. The patient had a history of invasive ductal carcinoma of the right breast and was treated with a carboplatin and docetaxel chemotherapy regimen. She presented with hair loss and a scalp biopsy revealed a marked decrease in hair follicles and prominent fibrous tracts consistent with CCCA. Initial treatments with doxycycline to reduce inflammation and topical minoxidil foam 5% showed no improvement in hair growth. However, when topical minoxidil was switched to oral minoxidil, the patient demonstrated increased hair growth on the scalp over time. This case suggests that oral minoxidil could be an effective treatment option for CCCA.