PURPOSE: Scalp cooling (SC) offers a chance to reduce hair loss (HL), but patient satisfaction, the effect on well-being, as well as patient selection criteria have not been sufficiently assessed yet. METHODS: In the EVAScalp trial, SC was offered to 70 breast cancer patients who received chemotherapy between November 2015 and September 2018. For SC, the Paxman-Orbis-II System was used. Satisfaction was measured by a questionnaire evaluating the level of depression with the WHO-5 well-being index (WHO-5) plus questions addressing the patient's experiences and side effects using the SC device. To evaluate efficacy, documentation by photo, by a physician, and by an HL-diary was conducted. RESULTS: Regarding efficacy, a significant difference between chemotherapy regimens is seen. Anthracycline-based therapies led to a stop of SC in 71% of the patients, whereas taxane-based therapies without anthracyclines were associated with a high acceptance of SC, and 88% of patients with paclitaxel-based therapies continued SC throughout their chemotherapy. Overall, only 7.69% of the patients stopped because of side effects. As an indicator for quality of life, WHO-5 was higher (65.8%) in patients with successful SC compared to in patients who stopped SC because of HL or side effects (only 53.0%). The majority of patients (82.22%) with successful SC would recommend SC to other patients. CONCLUSIONS: Patients tolerated SC as long as HL was successfully prevented. The well-being of patients with successful SC was significantly higher than that of patients who stopped SC prematurely. In general, SC is a promising approach and improves patient well-being, but there are still limitations to its utility depending on the chemotherapy regimen used.
PURPOSE: Scalp cooling (SC) offers a chance to reduce hair loss (HL), but patient satisfaction, the effect on well-being, as well as patient selection criteria have not been sufficiently assessed yet. METHODS: In the EVAScalp trial, SC was offered to 70 breast cancer patients who received chemotherapy between November 2015 and September 2018. For SC, the Paxman-Orbis-II System was used. Satisfaction was measured by a questionnaire evaluating the level of depression with the WHO-5 well-being index (WHO-5) plus questions addressing the patient's experiences and side effects using the SC device. To evaluate efficacy, documentation by photo, by a physician, and by an HL-diary was conducted. RESULTS: Regarding efficacy, a significant difference between chemotherapy regimens is seen. Anthracycline-based therapies led to a stop of SC in 71% of the patients, whereas taxane-based therapies without anthracyclines were associated with a high acceptance of SC, and 88% of patients with paclitaxel-based therapies continued SC throughout their chemotherapy. Overall, only 7.69% of the patients stopped because of side effects. As an indicator for quality of life, WHO-5 was higher (65.8%) in patients with successful SC compared to in patients who stopped SC because of HL or side effects (only 53.0%). The majority of patients (82.22%) with successful SC would recommend SC to other patients. CONCLUSIONS: Patients tolerated SC as long as HL was successfully prevented. The well-being of patients with successful SC was significantly higher than that of patients who stopped SC prematurely. In general, SC is a promising approach and improves patient well-being, but there are still limitations to its utility depending on the chemotherapy regimen used.
Authors: Manon M C Komen; Corina J G van den Hurk; Johan W R Nortier; Tjeerd van der Ploeg; P Nieboer; Jacobus J M van der Hoeven; Carolien H Smorenburg Journal: Support Care Cancer Date: 2018-09-11 Impact factor: 3.603
Authors: Wafaa Al-Tameemi; Christopher Dunnill; Omar Hussain; Manon M Komen; Corina J van den Hurk; Andrew Collett; Nikolaos T Georgopoulos Journal: Toxicol In Vitro Date: 2014-08-01 Impact factor: 3.500
Authors: Katharina Smetanay; Philippe Junio; Manuel Feißt; Julia Seitz; Jessica Cecile Hassel; Luisa Mayer; Lina Maria Matthies; Arina Schumann; André Hennigs; Jörg Heil; Christof Sohn; Dirk Jaeger; Andreas Schneeweiss; Frederik Marmé Journal: Breast Cancer Res Treat Date: 2018-09-25 Impact factor: 4.872