Chemotherapy-induced alopecia (CIA) constantly remains one of the most noticeable and stress-inducing side-effects of cancer therapy, despite new strategies and advances in therapeutic approaches. Even though usually reversable, hair loss carries serious psychological and social consequences that affect patients’ comfort, social confidence and self-image, as well as adherence to oncological treatment. This review considers pathophysiological processes connected to CIA, focusing especially on anagen effluvium caused by cytotoxic nature of chemotherapeutic agents affecting proliferating hair follicle cells and underlines individual adaptation and susceptibility. Attention is focused particularly on controlled, mechanized scalp cooling method as an additional preventative intervention. Existing evidence from current studies clearly demonstrates that scalp cooling reduces the incidence and severity of CIA significantly, especially when it comes to taxane-based therapeutic regimens, with a range of 50% to 70% of hair preservation. In other types of therapies, like anthracycline-based, scalp cooling effectiveness is more limited but still shows meaningful reduction in severity and later onset of alopecia. Scalp cooling effectiveness reaches further than clinical outcomes. It contributes to an improved life quality, maintenance of privacy and identity and more positive patient-reported data. This review also takes global disparities, safety and ethical issues under consideration. Overall, innovative supportive strategies in medicine, like scalp cooling, integrate biological efficacy and psychological and social benefits and further underscore the importance of patient-focused approach in contemporary medicine, including oncological care.
Płaza et al. (Mon,) studied this question.