Skin and mucosal alterations

Hair loss (alopecia) 636 Scalp cooling (scalp hypothermia) 638 Oral mucositis and related problems 640 Oral mucositis: managing the process and symptoms 644 Oesophagitis 646 Oral care in advanced cancer 647 Malignant wounds 648 Lymphoedema 650 Hair loss can be a distressing side effect of cancer treatment; it impacts on body image and feelings of attractiveness, creates anxiety and causes a visual reminder of the disease and treatment. Alopecia is not a major side effect for most people, but a small group of patients will become extremely distressed by it....

2009 ◽  
Vol 27 (15_suppl) ◽  
pp. e13539-e13539 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. O. El-saka ◽  
G. El-Husseiny ◽  
Y. Rostom ◽  
A. Salama

e13539 Background: Hair loss is a common, unavoidable, and stressful side effect of chemotherapy. This work was performed to evaluate the role of scalp cooling in reducing anthracycline-induced hair loss and its impact on Quality of life (QOL). Methods: The study was conducted from July 2007 to August 2008. It included 120 females with breast cancer, treated in adjuvant setting. Patients were chosen according to certain criteria (age ≤ 70 years, WHO performance status 0–1, no cardiac disease, no serious psychiatric conditions, no previous chemotherapy). Patients were divided randomly into 2 groups according to whether scalp cooler was used or not during chemotherapy. Chemotherapy consisted of doxorubicin (50 mg/m2), 5-FU (500 mg/m2) and cyclophosphamide (500 mg/m2) for 6 cycles. Paxman Scalp Cooler was used. The cap was applied 20 minutes before, during and 2 hours after infusion. Hair loss was assessed using WHO criteria at each cycle and after 6 cycles of chemotherapy. QOL was assessed using EORTC QLQ-C30 and BR23. Results: After 4 cycle, 61.7 % of patients in scalp cooling group had grade 4 hair loss compared to 81.7 % of patients in control group. After 6 cycles, 85% of patients in scalp cooling group experienced grade 4 hair loss compared to 100% of patients in the control group. Only 9 patients (15%) in the scalp cooling group developed grade 1–2 hair loss. No significant relation was found between the degree of hair loss and the liver function tests. Most patients (73.3%) were comfortable during cooling. QOL scores were comparable between the two groups except for emotional functioning and body image. In the hair loss group, 71.2% of patients showed severe disturbance of emotional functioning and 54.1% of patients had moderate disturbance in body image. In hair preservation group (9 patients), 77.8% developed moderate disturbance of emotional functioning and all patients had mild disturbance in the body image. Conclusions: The role of scalp cooling is limited at the total dose of 300 mg/m2 doxorubicin. It may be more effective with fewer cycles or less aggressive drug combination. Hair loss affects various aspects of QOL, especially emotional functioning and body image. More time is needed to assess the long term effect of hair loss on QOL and the incidence of scalp metastasis in the two study groups. No significant financial relationships to disclose.


2019 ◽  
Vol 37 (15_suppl) ◽  
pp. e12075-e12075
Author(s):  
Nour Haidar ◽  
Lewis Nasr ◽  
Fadi Nasr

e12075 Background: Hair loss (alopecia) is recognized as one of the most common and distressing side effects of chemotherapy. The scalp cooler first used in 1970s against the Chemotherapy CIA (chemotherapy induced alopecia). This study aimed at assessing the effectiveness of scalp cooling (PAXMAN Cooler ORBIS II SCALP COOLER) in reducing chemotherapy-induced alopecia. Methods: This prospective study was conducted at the Mount-Lebanon Hospital in the one day chemotherapy between 01 January 2017 and 31 December 2018. 109 women diagnosed with breast cancer with stage I or II undergoing neoadjuvant, and adjuvant chemotherapy were enrolled. Patients with scalp cooling 54.1% (n=59), control 45.9 % (n=50). Scalp cooling done by using the scalp cooling device. The primary end point was to assess the hair loss using the dean’s scale after multiple cycles of chemotherapy. The clinical assessment and alopecia evaluation were done after each chemotherapy cycle. The secondary endpoint was the side effect of the scalp cooler such as headache. Results: The Mean age was 55.73 ± 11.9 years. 82.56 %received Anthracycline-based chemotherapy regimen with Docetaxel, and 14.69 % Anthracycline-based chemotherapy regimen with Paclitaxel and 2.75 % took only anthracycline with cyclophosphamide. The effectiveness of hair preservation was successfully reported as 62.7% grade 0, 22.01 % grade 1 and 15.29% grade 2. There were highly significant differences between patients underwent scalp cooling and patients without scalp cooling with different regimens of chemotherapy (P value <0.0001). The major side effect, the headache where was reported in 25.7% from the total (P value <0.0001). Conclusions: Hair preservation in stage I , II breast cancer undergoing multiple regimens of chemotherapy was significantly more effective in the scalp cooling group.


2012 ◽  
Vol 21 (4) ◽  
pp. 1113-1120 ◽  
Author(s):  
Akram F. Qutob ◽  
Gabrielle Allen ◽  
Sumant Gue ◽  
Tamas Revesz ◽  
Richard M. Logan ◽  
...  

1983 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 33-37 ◽  
Author(s):  
J C Dean ◽  
K S Griffith ◽  
T C Cetas ◽  
C L Mackel ◽  
S E Jones ◽  
...  

Two methods of scalp hypothermia were compared in preventing alopecia, a side effect of doxorubicin chemotherapy that has a significant psychologic impact on the patient. Thirty-three patients received scalp ice packs consisting of crushed ice in plastic bags. Twenty-nine patients received Kold Kap, a device that produces chilling via an endothermic reaction. Scalp hypothermia was applied for 5-10 min before the doxorubicin bolus and left in place for 30-40 min afterward. The percent of hair loss was rated at each visit and photographs were used to further quantitate any hair loss. Sixty-three percent of Kold Kap and 56% of ice pack patients had good or better protection and did not require wigs. Excellent protection (less than 25% loss) was provided for 51% of Kold Kap and 33% of ice pack patients. Similar protection was provided to Kold Kap patients regardless of dose, while ice pack patients received significantly better protection if their doxorubicin doses were less than 50 mg. Scalp hypothermia is an effective method of preventing doxorubicin-induced alopecia.


2017 ◽  
Vol 24 (10) ◽  
pp. 1368-1377 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sarah Grogan ◽  
Jayne Mechan ◽  
Sofia Persson ◽  
Sive Finlay ◽  
Matthew Hall

This study investigated how women constructed body image following cancer. Four women, aged 32–67 years, who had experienced breast or bowel cancer took part in a 2-hour, in-depth focus group. Discourse analysis revealed that women orientated to positive aspects of the post-treatment body (silhouette, trust, acceptance) while acknowledging that their experiences were also traumatic (hair loss, scarring, sickness, swelling). Bodies and illness were concealed from public judgment, and women developed new trust in their bodies due to overcoming cancer; post-cancer bodies were accepted despite opportunities for normalisation. Implications for those wanting to support women during and after cancer are discussed.


2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Min Chai ◽  
Meisheng Jiang ◽  
Laurent Vergnes ◽  
Xudong Fu ◽  
Stephanie C de Barros ◽  
...  

Hair plays important roles, ranging from the conservation of body heat to the preservation of psychological well-being. Hair loss or alopecia affects millions worldwide and can occur because of aging, hormonal dysfunction, autoimmunity, or as a side effect of cancer treatment (Gilhar et al., 2012; Petukhova et al., 2010). Methods that can be used to regrow hair are highly sought after, but lacking. Here we report that hair regeneration can be stimulated by small molecules that activate autophagy, including the longevity metabolites α-ketoglutarate and α-ketobutyrate, and the prescription drugs rapamycin and metformin which impinge on TOR and AMPK signaling.


2019 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 66-71 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tiziana Prochilo ◽  
Alessandra Huscher ◽  
Federica Andreis ◽  
Mara Mirandola ◽  
Elisabetta Zaina ◽  
...  

Background: The most effective agents in the treatment of breast cancer have a common side effect, the hair loss. Some studies reported a reduction of hair loss with the use of the scalp cooling device. Indeed, it decreases the drug accumulation in the hair follicles. We report our preliminary experience with a scalp cooling device in reducing chemotherapy-induced alopecia and related distress in breast cancer patients undergoing adjuvant chemotherapy. </P><P> Methods: Hair loss grading and treatment tolerability were evaluated during chemotherapy every 21 days and 3 weeks after the last cycle of chemotherapy via Dean’s scale by patients and operators and a comfort analogic scale by patients. We administered the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale questionnaire at the baseline and at the end of treatment to assess the distress related to chemotherapy- induced alopecia. Results: Among the 46 patients identified, 27 accepted the device. The eligible chemotherapy regimens included docetaxel+cyclophosphamide (TC), doxorubicin+cyclophosphamide (AC) and paclitaxel (P) weekly+trastuzumab (T). 24 pts (89%) completed the treatment; 3 pts (11%) treated with AC prematurely interrupted use of the scalp-cooling device due to inefficacy. After the last cycle of chemotherapy, the number of patient who perceived a HL < grade 2 was 16 (59%). The hair retention reported by operators has been higher (78%). 81.5% of patients well tolerated the treatment. Conclusion: In our study, the scalp-cooling device reduced chemotherapy-induced alopecia in taxane- based chemotherapy. Furthermore, it suggests a discordance in hair loss perception between patients and operators.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Esra Tanrıverdi Eçik ◽  
Onur BULUT ◽  
Hasan Hüseyin Kazan ◽  
Elif Şenkuytu ◽  
Bunyemin Cosut

Photodynamic therapy (PDT) is a promising strategy in cancer treatment with its relatively lower side effect profile. Undoubtedly, the key component of PDT is the photosensitizers with a high ability...


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