Hair loss is a common condition for many individuals, especially as they age. The exact reasons for the hair loss can vary, but one particularly uncomfortable and unpleasant cause is chemotherapy. Not all people will have the same side effects during chemotherapy, even when they are fighting the same kind of cancer with the same chemotherapy drug.
For example, some chemotherapy patients may only have a slight change in their hair color, while others may have thinning hair. Other patients may experience hair loss, although the amount of hair loss and areas where the hair falls out can differ among patients. Sadly, some unlucky patients have permanent hair loss. One such chemotherapy drug that causes a side effect of permanent hair loss is Taxotere.
What Is Taxotere?
Taxotere is a chemotherapy drug that is mainly used to treat breast cancer. Its manufacturer allegedly covered up information and research results that showed that Taxotere could cause permanent hair loss at a higher rate than other chemotherapy drugs.
There is extensive litigation associated with these allegations, but even if the permanent hair loss victims win their cases, it still won’t change the fact that they will be required to live with unsightly permanent hair loss. This leaves many victims wanting to know if there is any way to regrow hair permanently lost due to chemotherapy from Taxotere. Fortunately, there are some advances in hair replacement and restoration that can help.
How do Chemotherapy Drugs Cause Hair Loss?
For the most part, chemotherapy drugs, including Taxotere, work by attacking any cells that multiply quickly, such as cancer cells. But, the chemotherapy drug attacks all quickly multiplying cells indiscriminately, whether they are cancer cells or not. Therefore, cells found in other regions of the body, such as the stomach lining, blood, bone marrow, and hair follicles are also harmed. Many times, this damage is merely temporary, with many patients having their hair regrow within several months.
As long as the chemotherapy drug has not permanently destroyed the hair follicles, the hair should come back in a few months. However, up to approximately 6% of patients treated with the chemo drug Taxotere may have permanent hair follicle damage. The good news for these patients is that there are scientifically proven advances in hair replacement techniques that can help injured patients to look and feel normal again.
Hair Replacement Procedures
Hair replacement procedures that graft existing hair follicles to areas with no active hair follicles may help when hair is lost from Taxotere. However, a donor area with active and functioning hair follicles must be transplanted to the area where there are none, and certain patients may have no donor region to use if all their hair follicles have been destroyed by the chemo treatment. Transplantation requires existing areas of hair, and some patients may not have enough active donatable hair follicles to compensate for the lost hair.
Speak With a Hair Transplant DoctorConsulting a hair transplant doctor like Dr. Robin Unger can help you assess your hair loss status and make the appropriate recommendations for your situation.