Cancers are characterized by abnormally rapidly dividing cells. It then logically follows that the chemotherapy drugs created to treat cancers are designed to attack those rapidly dividing cells. Unfortunately, some healthy tissues in the body are composed of cells that divide rapidly naturally and normally, and when chemotherapy treatments begin, these cells find themselves in a ‘wrong place, wrong time’ situation. Hair follicles are one of these types of tissues. Thus, when an individual undergoes chemotherapy to combat cancer, they frequently experience hair loss as well as a result of the medication’s attempted eradication of such cells.
On a positive note, the management of side effects of chemotherapy drugs such as hair loss continue to improve as cancer drug research progresses. For example, some newer treatments are able to more precisely target specific cancerous cells instead of attacking all rapidly dividing cells, reducing the amount of hair loss experienced by those undergoing chemotherapy with those drugs. That said, the older drugs are still effective and widely used. BreastCancer.org offers the below examples of the varying impacts of specific drugs on their website where they also point out the effect that therapy scheduling can have on hair loss:
Adriamycin (the “A” in CAF chemo treatment) causes complete hair loss on the head, usually during the first few weeks of treatment. Some women also lose eyelashes and eyebrows.
Methotrexate (the “M” in CMF chemo treatment) thins hair in some people but not others. And it’s rare to have complete hair loss from methotrexate.
Cytoxan and 5-fluorouracil cause minimal hair loss in most women, but some may lose a great deal.
Taxol usually causes complete hair loss, including head, brows, lashes, pubic area, legs, and arms.
When deciding on and planning for chemotherapy as an option to fight a cancer diagnosis, doctors prepare their patients for what to expect during the treatments, and this includes everything from what a visit will be like to how quickly or slowly hair loss can be anticipated. Understanding these individualized prognoses and preparing oneself for the dynamic physical and emotional challenges ahead are extremely important in paving the way for the smoothest journey possible through an otherwise very difficult undertaking. In addition to allowing space for a healthy and normal emotional response to hair loss, thinking ahead can also offer time to prepare solutions that will make the transition less abrupt, disruptive, and noticeable. We will touch on these potential solutions next week when we discuss ways of dealing with chemotherapy-induced hair loss.
Photo credit: Tafari Anthony via Flickr Creative Commons
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