Bald is beautiful: no more. The stigma of alopecia during chemotherapy: Brindisi Oncology Department experience

Abstract

Background: The cancer treatments often bring with it body image challenges, causing low self-esteem and contributing to worsen the quality of life (QoL). Chemotherapy (CT)-induced hair loss (HL) is one of the most emotionally distressing side effects of several breast cancer (BC) treatments. The DigniCap system (DCS), using the scalp cooling system, has been shown to reduce CT-induced alopecia (A) in a multicenter prospective trial. The purpose of this prospective observational study was to describe our experience. Materials (patients) and methods: From February 2016 and April 2017, 40 consecutive early stage BC pts who received anthracycline and/or taxane-based treatment were enrolled, post local Ethics Committees approval. A nurse and a psychologist were dedicated for these pts. A/HL has been graduated according to the Dean's scale: G0= no HL; G1 < 25% HL; G2=25-50% HL; G3=50-75% HL; G4 >75% HL.