Hair Disorders Associated with Anticancer Agents

This chapter reviews the types and amounts of hair loss seen with various anticancer agents. It discusses newer methods of tracking and defining the amount of hair loss and the severity of the psychosocial impact. The chapter focuses on potential measures to prevent or hasten the regrowth seen with CIA. There are three main types of hair abnormalities seen with chemotherapy-induced hair loss/alopecia (CIA): telogen effluvium, anagen effluvium, and abnormal hair growth. Cytotoxic chemotherapy traditionally causes either a telogen or anagen effluvium whereas targeted therapies can also cause abnormal hair growth. Some of the earliest approaches to preventing CIA were nonpharmaceutical. Scalp cooling is by far the most extensively used and discussed treatment method for CIA. The recent development of quantitative grading scales for CIA should aid in the evaluation of possible intervention. Of the prophylactic treatment options already in use, scalp cooling has shown benefit in preventing hair loss.