Efficacy of the DigniCap System in preventing chemotherapy‐induced alopecia in breast cancer patients is not related to patient characteristics or side effects of the device

Pedersini, Rebecca; Fornaro, Carla; Mauro, Pierluigi di; Bianchi, Susanna; Vassalli, Lucia; Amoroso, Vito; Gelmi, Maria Chiara; Ardine, Mara; Rodella, Filippo; Cosentini, Deborah; Volta, Alberto Dalla; Turla, Antonella; Pierini, Michela; Motta, Paolo Carlo; Conti, Elisa; Simoncini, Edda; Berruti, Alfredo

doi:10.1111/ijn.12888

Cited by 7 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 24 publications

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“…scalp cooling system were chills, followed by dizziness and headaches, however most of them were mild. Similar side effects were reported in the literature [15,16]. Regarding quality of life, a recently published systematic review showed that results are still inconsistent [17].…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 75%

Prevention of Chemotherapy-induced Alopecia: Experience of a Cancer Center in Romania

Onisim¹,

Sabău²,

Ciucă

et al. 2021

JMRO

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"Background: Chemotherapy still represents the backbone of systemic treatment for many solid tumors. Alopecia remains one of its most distressing side effects. Scalp cooling is an effective strategy to reduce the risk of alopecia induced by chemotherapy, therefore this study aimed to assess the efficiency of DigniCap scalp-cooling system in our center. Material&Methods: 113 patients diagnosed with solid tumors, who underwent chemotherapy using the DigniCap scalp-cooling system in our center between January 2018 - December 2020, were included in the study. Alopecia was evaluated by the physician according to Dean’s scale at baseline and after the last cycle of chemotherapy. The primary endpoint was to evaluate scalp-cooling efficiency defined by a Dean's scale score of 0–2 (hair loss ≤50%). Results: 78 (72.3%) out of the 113 patients who used scalp cooling presented hair loss of 50% or less, the majority were females (91.2%) and had a diagnosis of breast cancer (49.6%) or gynecological cancer (27.4%). The mean number of chemotherapy cycles using DigniCap was 4.82 cycles. Hair loss greater than 50% of the scalp surface was observed in 27.7% of patients, the highest grade of alopecia being observed for anthracycline-based chemotherapy. No serious adverse events were reported. Conclusion: The results of this study support the evidence existing so far in the literature. Among patients who underwent chemotherapy for various cancer types, the DigniCap System significantly prevented hair loss and we consider that it should be integrated in the supportive care of patients."

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 75%

Prevention of Chemotherapy-induced Alopecia: Experience of a Cancer Center in Romania

Onisim¹,

Sabău²,

Ciucă

et al. 2021

JMRO

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“…Our study suggests that hair thickness, structure, density, and manipulation during chemotherapy did not influence the hair preservation rate. In this regard, a series of studies reported that hair thickness, the main hair characteristic investigated, was not a significant factor associated with hair preservation [ 14 , 15 , 16 ], whereas another analysis suggested an inverse association [ 17 ].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Prospective Study Investigating the Efficacy and Safety of a Scalp Cooling Device for the Prevention of Alopecia in Women Undergoing (Neo)Adjuvant Chemotherapy for Breast Cancer

Carbognin

Accetta

Giorgio³

et al. 2022

Current Oncology

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The prevention of chemotherapy-induced alopecia still represents an urgent need for every day clinical practice. In this regard, this prospective single-center study included breast cancer (BC) patients who underwent a scalp cooling device (Dignicap®) during (neo)adjuvant chemotherapy with the aim to evaluate the efficacy and safety of this device in preventing alopecia. One hundred and seventy-eight patients (median age 43 years) were enrolled. The chemotherapy regimen included anthracycline and taxane-based chemotherapy (68.1%), docetaxel and cyclophosphamide (25.8%), anthracycline and taxane-based plus carboplatin (3.9%), and paclitaxel alone (2.2%). In 25.3% of cases, a dose dense schedule was used. Overall, the success rate was 68.0%: 100% in paclitaxel alone, 87.0% in docetaxel-cyclophosphamide, 59.5% in anthracycline and taxane, and 71.4% in the sequential regimen plus carboplatin group (anthracycline and taxane-based chemotherapy versus taxane-based chemotherapy, p ≤ 001. No difference in terms of hair preservation between dose-dense or standard schedule was found (p = 0.557). Early discontinuation of the scalp cooling was observed in 50 patients (28.1%). Although 138 patients (77.5%) experienced adverse events, 70.2% of patients were satisfied with this device. In conclusion, this large prospective study confirmed the helpful effect of the scalp cooling system in preventing alopecia in BC patients also undergoing sequential anthracyclines and taxane-based chemotherapy.

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Retrospective evaluation of Penguin Cold Caps for chemotherapy-induced alopecia

Weaver,

Pershing,

Golden

et al. 2024

Support Care Cancer

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Background Scalp cooling is an increasingly recognized non-pharmacologic approach to minimize chemotherapy-induced alopecia (CIA). Several commercially available machine-based and manual scalp cooling systems are available; however, literature reports of effectiveness are highly variable. The purpose of this study was to determine real-world tolerability and subjective effectiveness of a manual cold capping system in minimizing CIA across a variety of patient race and hair types. This study was a single-institution review of outcomes from manual cold capping. Methods We identified retrospective cohort of adult patients who presented to discuss cold capping between January 14, 2019, and March 31, 2022. Data collected from medical records included demographics, decision to pursue/continue cold capping, diagnoses, chemotherapy regimens, hair characteristics (length, thickness, coarseness, type), and subjective perception of percentage of hair retained. Those with successful vs. unsuccessful cold capping (≥ 50% vs. < 50% of hair retained) were compared based on the patient-level factors of interest. Findings A total of 100 patients initiated cold capping during the study period, and 95% of them completed cold capping. The majority of patients who started cold capping completed it. The median-reported percentage of hair maintained was 75%, and 82/89 (92.1% of patients) had favorable results, defined as ≥ 50% of hair retained. The only patient-level factor associated with favorable response was chemotherapy regimen, with fewer patients receiving doxorubicin-containing regimens having successful hair retention compared to other chemotherapy types (71.4% successful results vs. 95.7% for those receiving paclitaxel-containing regimens and 96.6% for those receiving docetaxel-containing regimens (p = 0.018). There was no difference in success based on patient race/ethnicity or hair characteristics. Interpretation The overall effectiveness (92.1%) in this study is consistent to higher than many literature reports. One possible reason for the high success in our cohort is compliance with cold capping protocols, meaning applying the cap in the appropriate manner and wearing the cap for the prescribed durations, which may impact effectiveness.

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Efficacy of the DigniCap System in preventing chemotherapy‐induced alopecia in breast cancer patients is not related to patient characteristics or side effects of the device

Cited by 7 publications

References 24 publications

Prevention of Chemotherapy-induced Alopecia: Experience of a Cancer Center in Romania

Prevention of Chemotherapy-induced Alopecia: Experience of a Cancer Center in Romania

Prospective Study Investigating the Efficacy and Safety of a Scalp Cooling Device for the Prevention of Alopecia in Women Undergoing (Neo)Adjuvant Chemotherapy for Breast Cancer

Retrospective evaluation of Penguin Cold Caps for chemotherapy-induced alopecia

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