Hair loss has long been a common and often traumatic side effect of undergoing certain chemotherapy treatments for cancer. Scalp cooling is a simple, FDA approved treatment that can prevent hair loss caused by these chemotherapies.
With advances in the technology and the release of a study in the Journal of the American Medical Association on how well the therapy works in the past few years, Tufts Medical Center Cancer Center is now offering scalp cooling to patients undergoing breast and gynecologic cancer treatment with a risk of hair loss.
Scalp cooling works by reducing the damage that chemotherapy causes to hair follicles by lowering the temperature of the scalp immediately before, during, and after chemotherapy. This causes a decrease in the blood flow to the area around the hair follicles, which may prevent or minimize hair loss.
“Hair loss is a considerable quality of life issue for many patients, as they undergo treatment for cancer,” says Julie Sherman, RN, BMTCN, Clinical Nursing Director in Adult Hematology/Oncology at Tufts Medical Center. “We hope that by offering the scalp cooling program to our patients with breast and gynecological cancers, we can help to reduce hair loss and improve a patient’s quality of life.”
Scalp cooling therapy will be available to Tufts MC Cancer Center patients in both the Boston and Stoneham locations. For more information about the scalp cooling program at Tufts Medical Center Cancer Center in Boston, call 617-636-6227 and in Stoneham call 781-224-5877.
For additional information about scalp cooling therapy, visit the following websites:
