Preventing Chemotherapy-Induced Hair Loss

Undergo Your Chemotherapy With Revolutionary Hair Loss Treatment

Hair loss (alopecia) is a more commonly experienced side effect of certain drugs used in cancer treatments. It is also one of the most traumatic consequences of undergoing chemotherapy. For many people, losing hair is a very public sign of their cancer diagnosis. A first-of-its-kind, Cold Cap (scalp cooling) Therapy now available at selected Montserrat Day Hospitals is clinically proven to reduce and even prevent hair loss in patients undergoing chemotherapy treatments.

“Am I going to lose my hair?” is the question that our cancer patients ask us most frequently. Until not long ago, chemotherapy-induced hair loss was poorly understood. Paxman, the global pioneer in scalp cooling, worked intensively to increase every patients’ chances of “zero hair loss” during chemotherapy.

How does Cold Cap (Scalp Cooling) Therapy work?

The ground breaking research of the Paxman Research and Innovation Centre, has dramatically advanced our understanding of the relationship between hair loss and chemotherapy. A quarter of a century of research has shown that the damage to the hair follicle caused by chemotherapy drugs can be alleviated by reducing the temperature of the scalp.

How successful is the treatment?

• Paxman’s scalp cooling technology has been in use for 20 years
• 100,000 patients have been treated worldwide
• Scalp cooling has an 89 per cent success rate in breast cancer patients
• Only 8 per cent of scalp cooling patients still experienced significant hair loss during chemotherapy

Cold Cap Therapy Available At No Additional Cost to Patients

Montserrat Day Hospitals aim to give cancer patients a little more control over their lives. We were the first in Queensland to offer the clinically proven Cold Cap scalp cooling treatment by Paxman and provide the therapy to eligible patients undergoing chemotherapy at no additional cost as part of their treatment plan.

Cold Cap (scalp cooling) Therapy is currently available to eligible patients receiving chemotherapy treatment at one of the following Montserrat Day Hospital facilities in Queensland:

• Westside Haematology and Oncology Clinic located inside Westside Private Hospital in Brisbane
• Sunshine Coast Haematology and Oncology Clinic (SCHOC)

Reduce Hair Loss During Chemotherapy with Cold Cap Therapy Scalp Cooling Treatments

How Does Scalp Cooling Work?

Chemotherapy uses a range of drugs to destroy fast-growing and dividing cancer cells. Unlike radiation, which is highly targeted, chemotherapy flushes drugs throughout the entire body. As a result, chemotherapy drugs also affect the healthy cells of the skin, hair and intestines, leading to a range of side effects, including hair loss and discoloured nails.

There Are Three Rationales For The Success Of Scalp Cooling:

• A Significant Reduction of Blood Flow To The Scalp The cold cap lowers the temperature of the scalp by a few degrees. Cooling the scalp creates vasoconstriction reducing the blood flow by up to 40 per cent. As a result, a much smaller amount of chemotherapy drugs are carried to the hair follicles, and a lower effective drug dose may enter the cells.
• Chemotherapy Drugs Bypass The Now Dormant Hair FolliclesAs the temperature of the scalp is lowered, the metabolism-driven cell division slows down. This means fast-dividing hair follicle cells become dormant. Since chemotherapy drugs first and foremost target fast-dividing cells, they will bypass the now dormant hair follicles.
• The Cytotoxicity of Chemotherapy Drugs is Reduced The hair cells’ slower metabolic activity causes a general reduction in the toxicity of the applied chemotherapeutic drugs (cytotoxicity) localised to the scalp.

Which patients are eligible for Scalp Cooling?

Cold Cap Therapy can only be used with certain types of cancer and chemotherapy drugs. The scalp cooling treatment can be used with solid tumours that are commonly treated with chemotherapy regimes for:

• Breast Cancer
• Prostate Cancer
• Lung Cancer
• Colorectal Cancer
• Gynecological Cancer

The treatment cannot be used with haematological malignancies (cancers of the blood and blood-forming organs), cold allergy, cold agglutinins, scalp metastases and bone marrow ablation chemotherapy.

What are the Side Effects?

Cold Cap Therapy begins 30 minutes before the chemotherapy infusion, stays on during treatment, and 30-90 minutes after the chemotherapy is finished. In total, the Cold Cap Therapy treatment can take up to two and a half hours.

89 per cent of patients describe the therapy as acceptable, with minimal discomfort. 15 per cent of patients struggle with the coldness and 2 per cent of patients experience headaches during treatment.

Chemotherapy Without Cold Cap (Scalp Cooling) Therapy?

Without Cold Cap Therapy , hair loss may begin to occur two to three weeks after initial chemotherapy treatment. As the hair begins to fall out, the scalp may feel hot, itchy and tender to touch. Whilst some people do not experience any hair loss at all, others find that the skin on their head becomes very sensitive.

Once all chemotherapy treatments have been concluded, it can take up to 12 months to grow back a full head of hair, and it may grow back in a different colour or structure.

Questions About Cold Cap (Scalp Cooling) Therapy And the Prevention of Hair Loss?

Are you wondering whether or not Cold Cap Therapy is for you? Arrange a referral through your GP to see any of the following Medical Oncologists. You can then discuss a tailored treatment plan and see if you’re eligible to use the Cold Cap Therapy.

Westside Haematology and Oncology Clinic Medical Oncologists

Dr Paul Kalokerinos
Phone: 07 3550 3500

Dr Paul Kalokerinos provides a high-level, evidence-based cancer treatment to residents in the metro and wider Brisbane areas. He has broad experience in caring for patients with a wide range of cancer subtypes, both common and rare, and has been exposed to the most cutting-edge cancer treatments through his work with patients enrolled in clinical trials.

Dr Sam Jones
Phone: 07 3550 3500

Dr Sam Jones has extensive experience managing all solid tumour types. His expertise involves the use of not just chemotherapy and hormone therapy, but a range of small targeted molecules, immunotherapy, and other new biological agents. Given the rapidly changing landscape of knowledge in cancer care, he is regularly attending conferences and staying up to date with the latest advances in treatments for cancer patients with all tumour sub-types.

Cold Cap Therapy is available at the following Montserrat Day Hospitals in Queensland: