Dutch Scalp Cooling Registry: The Largest Real-World Multi-Centre Analysis of Determinants for Scalp Cooling Efficacy, continues to provide critical insights into mitigating chemotherapy-induced alopecia (CIA).
This cumulative study, spanning 13 years and involving 7,424 patients across 68 hospitals in the Netherlands, is the most comprehensive source of data on scalp cooling available to date.
The study’s third paper, recently published in The Oncologist, builds on previous publications from 2012 and 2019, solidifying its role as a key resource in understanding the factors that influence successful scalp cooling.
Patient outcomes were measured across 24 different chemotherapy regimens giving valuable insight into the factors that affect efficacy of scalp cooling as an effective means of managing the devastating side effect of chemotherapy-induced alopecia.
73 per cent of registry respondents were breast cancer patients.
The most recent cohort (2013-2019) also collected additional information, such as anthropometric characteristics (height and weight), lifestyle tendencies, pre-treatment hair greying, natural hair shedding patterns, hair colour, potential technical issues with the scalp cooling equipment, and patient satisfaction with the scalp cooling process.
Dr Corina van den Hurk, Senior researcher at Santeon Hospital has dedicated her career to the side-effects of cancer treatment, completing her PhD research on chemotherapy-induced alopecia and scalp cooling.
She has over 100 publications to her name and has also developed the HAIR-QoL measure to assist clinical decision-making for personalised psychological care in measuring the severity and impact of chemotherapy-induced alopecia.
“This is the first time that the patient experience of scalp cooling has been documented on this scale and advocates the importance of the patient perspective for chemotherapy induced side effect management,” commented Toni Brook, Co-author & Postgraduate Research Scientist at The University of Huddersfield.
Throughout the month of October, as part of Breast Cancer Awareness Month, Paxman will continue to raise awareness, advocacy and support for breast cancer, while sharing the work of the wonderful charities, foundations and people that the company has partnered with over the years, helping to educate global audiences about breast cancer and the life-changing impact of scalp cooling treatment, not only for the person navigating a cancer diagnosis, but their wider network of family, friends and loved ones.
The Scalp Cooling Outcomes Calculator
The data from the Dutch Scalp Cooling Registry also serves as the foundation for Paxman’s Scalp Cooling Outcomes Calculator, an online tool that allows both clinicians and patients to estimate the likelihood of retaining half of their hair based on their chemotherapy regimen and dosage.
This tool, stemming from the experiences of the 7,424 patients involved in the registry, helps set realistic expectations for likely hair retention outcomes when scalp cooling is used alongside chemotherapy treatment.
