Scalp cooling to prevent or reduce chemotherapy-induced alopecia

Abstract

ABSTRACT Introduction: Chemotherapy-induced alopecia (CIA) has a significant impact on the quality of life of many cancer patients. Scalp cooling has been in use for decades for the prevention of CIA, and was first reported as effective in the 1970s. Areas covered: This review focuses on the scalp cooling as a preventative measure for CIA. It describes the recent literature on scalp cooling efficacy and safety, with a focus on recent prospective controlled trials. We performed a structured search of English language articles published from 2007 to August 2017 and selected pertinent studies reporting on scalp cooling and CIA. Expert commentary: Recent randomized and prospective trials in the United States have shown scalp cooling devices to be effective in a large percentage of patients; however, there are significant differences in rates of hair retention depending on the chemotherapy drugs and regimens used. The amassing evidence regarding scalp cooling for prevention of chemotherapy-induced alopecia has demonstrated that this is an effective, safe and well tolerated intervention which may provide an improved quality of life for patients undergoing chemotherapy for neoplastic disease.