A Clinical Study of Chemotherapy-Induced Permanent Alopecia / 대한피부과학회지

BACKGROUND: Anagen Effluvium is one of the typical side effects of chemotherapy, which is completely reversible. However, there are growing numbers of chemotherapy-induced permanent alopecia (CIPAL) which are characterized by an absence of or an incomplete hair regrowth 6-months beyond the cessation of chemotherapy. OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study is to reveal the clinical characteristics of CIPAL patients. METHODS: We retrospectively included 54 cases with CIPAL whom are being diagnosed from January 1996 to December 2011. The age, gender, duration of alopecia, familial history of alopecia, past medical history (including the types of chemotherapy agents), clinical patterns of alopecia and treatment responses were all analyzed. RESULTS: There was no sexual predominance. Mean age of the onset was 31.5 years old. There were two morphological types of CIPAL: diffused (69%) and androgenetic patterned (31%). Cyclophosphamide is the most commonly used chemotherapy agent in both types of alopecia. The response to treatment with topical minoxidil and/or oral finasteride was rather restrictive. CONCLUSION: In some cases of hair loss due to chemotherapic agents, the hair regrowths after the cessation of chemotherapy are rather restricted. This study demonstrated the clinical features of CIPAL. The patterns of CIPAL are either diffused or androgenetic. Thus, it is necessary to consider the possibilities of permanent alopecia which may occur after chemotherapy.

Five Cases of Permanent Alopecia Following Chemotherapy / 대한피부과학회지

With the development of chemotherapeutic agents and bone marrow transplantation, high dose conditioning chemotherapy before bone marrow transplantation, such as busulphan, have become more widely used. Of the side effects following chemotherapy, the cutaneous side effects of hair loss occur in high incidence. Alopecia following chemotherapy was generally known to recover completely in spite of subtle changes to the hair shaft. However, we recently experienced five cases of permanent incomplete regrowth of hair after cessation of conventional chemotherapy or high dose conditioning chemotherapy. In Korea, permenant alopecia following chemotherapy has not yet been reported and we reviewed them with the possible risk factors such as duration and kind of chemotherapeutic agents.