Randomised controlled trial of scalp cooling (SC) for the prevention of chemotherapy induced alopecia (CIA)

Effectiveness of Scalp Cooling to Prevent Chemotherapy-Induced Alopecia in Patients Undergoing Breast Cancer Treatment

“…Although all the studies agree that precooling, the first stage of SC, should be applied before chemotherapy treatment, the infusion and subsequent phases should be applied once the treatment has been completed; however, there is no consensus on the duration of SC application. The duration of application in the precooling phase varied between 10–15 14,28,29,31 and 30 minutes 27,32,38 . In the final phase, the duration varied from 30 minutes, 14,29 to 45 minutes, 31 to 60 minutes, 28,30 and to 90 minutes 33,38 .…”

“…A total of 8 RCTs 14,[27][28][29][30][31][32][33][34] were included in this systematic review and meta-analysis (Table 1). The studies were published between 1977 and 2019 and included a total of 484 adult women with breast cancer undergoing chemotherapy with taxanes, anthracyclines, and, in some cases, cyclophosphamide and fluorouracil.…”

“…The duration of application in the precooling phase varied between 10-15 14,28,29,31 and 30 minutes. 27,32,38 In the final phase, the duration varied from 30 minutes, 14,29 to 45 minutes, 31 to 60 minutes, 28,30 and to 90 minutes. 33,38 In the subgroup analysis, there did not seem to be important differences between the different application durations; thus, we cannot clearly establish specific application times.…”