“Scalp cooling is a “viable and effective method” for preventing hair loss during (multiple myeloma) treatments and does not appear to pose a risk for scalp metastases”
Surviving multiple myeloma isn’t easy. I know…As chemotherapy side-effects go, losing all your hair during chemo is managable. Keep in mind that multiple myeloma (MM) patients don’t just lose the hair from their head. After six rounds of induction therapy, all of my bodily hair fell out. But chemo-induced hair loss is temporary. Your hair does grow back.
But I will say that a diagnosis of multiple myeloma is a big deal. Managing the emotions surrounding a mm diagnosis is difficult. So if keeping some or all of your hair during chemo will help you manage your emotions post MM diagnosis, I say GO FOR IT!
According to the article linked below, scalp cooling works. More importantly, “scalp cooling does not appear to pose a risk for scalp mets.” Scalp cooling can make surviving multiple myeloma, well, surviving chemotherapy anyway, more bearable.
A good friend of mine is great friends with a movie actor (T.V. as well as movies). This actor was diagnosed with breast cancer. She wore a cap during chemo to prevent hair loss. It worked. She is back in front of the camera and she looks fabulous.
It’s important for the newly diagnosed multiple myeloma patient to know that many of your short, long-term and late stage side effects can be limited or even prevented. Surviving MM is possible.
I am both a multiple myeloma survivor and MM cancer coach. If you’ve been diagnosed with multiple myeloma your challenge is to learn what toxic therapies will to do your body now and in the future.
While no one can predict the future, there are plenty of studies that discuss common side effects such as:
- chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy,
- deep-vein thrombosis, (blood clots)
- chemobrain,
- bone and muscle wasting and others.
Many of the common side-effects can be minimized or even eliminated.
To Learn More about Alopecia- click now
Have you been diagnosed with multiple myeloma? What stage? What is your therapy plan? Scroll down the page, post a question or comment and I will reply to you ASAP.
Thank you,
David Emerson
- Multiple Myeloma Survivor
- MM Cancer Coach
- Director PeopleBeatingCancer
Recommended Reading:
“Scalp cooling is a “viable and effective method” for preventing hair loss during cancer treatments and does not appear to pose a risk for scalp metastases, concluded a US overview of 83 papers, presented at the 12th International Conference of Early Breast Cancer (St Gallen, Switzerland 16 to 19 March). An additional UK abstract concluded that the DigniCap™ system works in different ethnic hair types.
Hair loss is a distressing and common side effect of chemotherapy that can be reduced by scalp cooling. The concept behind scalp cooling is that it lowers the temperature of the scalp, thereby reducing blood flow and the metabolism of chemotherapy, so that hair is less likely to be damaged by treatment.
In the overview study Hope Hugo and colleagues, from the UCSF Comprehensive Cancer Center (San Francisco, California), reviewed 83 papers published between 1972 and 2009 involving more than 4,000 patients. At least four cooling systems were included in the analysis including
The investigators found that seven randomised trials (including 12 to 77 patients) reported good hair preservation in 10 to 100% of patients, with six out of seven studies demonstrating a significant improvement for patients randomised to treatments over those randomised to the control group. In 12 non randomised trials, 46 to 100% of patients were reported to have good to excellent hair preservation. The six studies, involving 1593 patients, who evaluated the incidence risk of scalp metastases, showed that 10 patients (0.6%) developed scalp metastases. None, however, was found to be an isolated site of first metastasis. Common side effects of scalp cooling treatments reported in the studies included a headache, feeling cold and ear pain. The success of scalp cooling in hair preservation, the US investigators found, was dependant on the type of cooling system and chemotherapy regimen used. Worse outcomes were obtained for the combination of anthracyclines and taxanes.
In the second abstract Kevin Saltmarsh, a chemotherapy nurse from King’s College, (London, UK) looked at the effectiveness of scalp cooling in patients from different ethnic backgrounds. To date, most studies have been undertaken in Caucasian and Asian patients. The study in 15 consecutive patients, describing their ethnic background as African black, British black, Brazilian white, Caribbean, British white and French white, did not demonstrate any differences in efficacy.
“What seems more significant to the outcome is whether woman have colored their hair, used heat treatments like straighteners or hair rollers, plaited their hair or worn wigs,” said Saltmarsh, adding that such women benefit from lower temperature settings. “In recent years there’s been a move to introduce higher temperature settings, such as 5 or 6 degrees centigrade since we found that women really suffered from temperatures of minus 10 or 11 degrees centigrade,” he added.
The DigniCap™ system, which they used in the study, allows scalp temperature to be regulated and visualized on a screen.
