Persistent chemotherapy-induced alopecia: a scoping review

PURPOSE OF REVIEW: Persistent chemotherapy-induced alopecia (pCIA) is defined as incomplete hair growth ≥6 months after chemotherapy completion. This scoping review aimed to identify gaps for future research by mapping pCIA's incidence, risk factors, quality-of-life (QoL) impacts, presentation, prevention, and management. RECENT FINDINGS: Thirty-nine articles were included. The most common study type was case reports (12/39, 30.8%). Only 2/39 (5.1%) were randomized controlled trials (RCTs). Most studies (27/39, 69.2%) reported pCIA in patients with breast cancer. Alkylating agents, taxanes, and anthracyclines were most frequently reported to be associated with pCIA. All six studies that evaluated QoL reported that pCIA negatively affected patients' psychological, functional, and social well-being. Scalp cooling was the only intervention shown to prevent pCIA in four studies. Twenty-one studies reported on interventions for the management of pCIA. Topical minoxidil was reported to improve pCIA in 7 out of 12 studies (58.3%). Low-dose oral minoxidil demonstrated benefit in 7 out of 7 studies (100%). SUMMARY: pCIA's incidence and risk factors should be prospectively evaluated across cancer types and chemotherapeutic agents. Given pCIA's significant QoL impacts, RCTs should be conducted to investigate existing and emerging interventions for its prevention and management, and to consider including these interventions in the standard of care.

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Journal
Current Opinion in Supportive and Palliative Care
Published
2026-10-16
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1097/spc.0000000000000832
Primary Topic
Chemotherapy-related skin toxicity
Type
article
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article

Persistent chemotherapy-induced alopecia: a scoping review

Mylin Ann Torres, Azael Freites‐Martínez, Edward Chow, Adrian Wai Chan et al.
Current Opinion in Supportive and Palliative Care
Chemotherapy-related skin toxicity
article

Persistent chemotherapy-induced alopecia: a scoping review

Mylin Ann Torres, Azael Freites‐Martínez, Edward Chow, Adrian Wai Chan, Julie Ryan Wolf, Michael Jefford, Juhee Cho, Jennifer Y. Y. Kwan, Jennifer Michelle Jones, Muna Alkhaifi, Corina van den Hurk, Maryam B. Lustberg, Sanam Tabataba Vakili, Shing Fung Lee, Sheona SN Leung, Henry CY Wong, Raymond J Chan, Cindy LS Wong, Jessica Lai, Amy WS Lo
article en

Abstract

PURPOSE OF REVIEW: Persistent chemotherapy-induced alopecia (pCIA) is defined as incomplete hair growth ≥6 months after chemotherapy completion. This scoping review aimed to identify gaps for future research by mapping pCIA's incidence, risk factors, quality-of-life (QoL) impacts, presentation, prevention, and management. RECENT FINDINGS: Thirty-nine articles were included. The most common study type was case reports (12/39, 30.8%). Only 2/39 (5.1%) were randomized controlled trials (RCTs). Most studies (27/39, 69.2%) reported pCIA in patients with breast cancer. Alkylating agents, taxanes, and anthracyclines were most frequently reported to be associated with pCIA. All six studies that evaluated QoL reported that pCIA negatively affected patients' psychological, functional, and social well-being. Scalp cooling was the only intervention shown to prevent pCIA in four studies. Twenty-one studies reported on interventions for the management of pCIA. Topical minoxidil was reported to improve pCIA in 7 out of 12 studies (58.3%). Low-dose oral minoxidil demonstrated benefit in 7 out of 7 studies (100%). SUMMARY: pCIA's incidence and risk factors should be prospectively evaluated across cancer types and chemotherapeutic agents. Given pCIA's significant QoL impacts, RCTs should be conducted to investigate existing and emerging interventions for its prevention and management, and to consider including these interventions in the standard of care.

Current Opinion in Supportive and Palliative Care
BC Cancer Agency (CA), Mount Sinai Hospital (CA), Hospital Authority (HK), Sunnybrook Health Science Centre (CA), Emory University (US), The University of Melbourne (AU), National University of Singapore (SG), Flinders University (AU), Chinese University of Hong Kong (HK), University of Toronto (CA), Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre (AU), Catharina Ziekenhuis (NL), Samsung Medical Center (KR), Princess Margaret Cancer Centre (CA), University of Rochester Medical Center (US), Yale University (US), Piedmont Cancer Institute (US), National University Cancer Institute, Singapore (SG), Santeon (Netherlands) (NL), Princess Margaret Hospital (HK), Caring Futures Institute (AU), Odette Cancer Centre (CA), Sungkyunkwan University (KR), Universidad Europea de Madrid (ES)
Openalex Percentile: Top 10%
Chemotherapy-related skin toxicity
DOISourceOpenAlex
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