Can You Lose the Cancer and Keep Your Hair?

Jul 18, 2011
Jody Mugele

D9 - Mait Juriado

With radiation treatments, hair loss is dependent on dose. Proton therapy may trigger fewer side effects including hair loss.

As cancer treatments become more advanced and as hair technologies become more advanced, you would think there would be a way to lose the cancer, but keep your hair. Hair loss can be a heart-breaking side effect of radiation treatment and chemotherapy. These types of treatments can not only affect the hair on your head, but also facial hair, pubic hair and body hair (including eyelashes and eyebrows).

There is no way to know if someone will lose their hair during cancer treatment. In fact, some people do not lose hair at all. Some experience thinning of the hair. But, there are many individuals who lose all of their hair. According to cancer.about.com, how much hair loss may depend on cancer medications you are taking, as well as how frequent dosages are, and how aggressive a given course of treatment is. With radiation treatments, hair loss is dependent on dose. The higher the radiation dose, the more likely you are to have permanent hair loss. Lower doses may only cause temporary hair loss.

What Causes Hair Loss during Cancer Treatment

Hair loss occurs because cancer treatments sometimes damage healthy cells. It's common because hair follicle cells multiply quickly, much like cancer cells; chemotherapy drugs and radiation therapies don't know the difference between them.

Alternative Cancer Treatments to Reduce Hair Loss

An alternative cancer treatment called proton therapy is a type of radiation therapy that uses high energy beams to target tumors like clival chordomas and meningiomas. Traditional radiation therapy using X-rays is known for being used to treat tumors. Proton therapy has shown promise in treating several kinds of cancer. Studies have suggested that proton therapy may trigger fewer side effects because doctors can better control where the proton beams target their energy. The idea is that if less healthy tissue is affected, than there will be fewer side effects, including hair loss. So, while there may still be hair loss in conjunction with this treatment, it may be localized to the treatment area. However, it's also worth noting that proton therapy may be used in conjunction with surgery and chemotherapy.

Additional Therapies to Reduce Hair Loss

If alternative cancer treatments may not be the answer, what about other therapies that could supplement a cancer treatment? Cold cap therapy uses special caps, frozen at extremely cold temperatures, and worn by a patient for a block of time before, during and after every cancer treatment. Theoretically, chilling the hair follicles in this manner prevents toxins from reaching them, and preserves the patient’s hair. This therapy has been used in Europe for 15 years, and more recently now in the United States.

Some individuals report that cold cap therapy is not very successful. People have said they have lost only some of their hair, even up to half. Hair that remains may be in such poor condition that it must be cut short anyway. Still others report the side effect of association sickness, which individuals can continue to have months, even years, after treatment, including getting headaches standing in front of an open freezer or even from seeing a cyclist wearing a helmet.

So while it seems both cancer treatments and other therapies are advancing in the right direction, there is a way to go yet in finding a way for cancer patients to keep their hair.