Jul 27, 2009 09:37PM makingway wrote:

SoCalLisa-You know one person who used caps 15 years ago? And they had a recurrence? That is quite a leap to attribute your friends recurrence to cold caps. What about all the other recurrences for people who didn't use cold caps??? Where was the reccurence? These are not the same caps that were used 15 years ago. And the only possible worry of recurrence worth considering is scalp metastasis, which is <1%. I wish we had stats like that when considering radiation, chemo and hormone blockers whose risks for both recurrence and side effects are much higher!!! Why do women suck on ice chips when doing chemo? It's to prevent the lining of the mouth from falling apart,so to speak. And women who put their nails in ice water to prevent them from falling off. I guess we need to be concerned about metastasis to the mouth and nail beds also. Here is some information on scalp metastasis: Scalp Metastases

One of the considerations in scalp cooling is the incidence of scalp secondaries which if present may not be treated by chemotherapy. It has been suggested that if blood flow to the scalp is reduced delivery of chemotherapeutic agents is reduced increasing the likelihood of cancer cell survival.

In early stage breast cancer, the incidence of the scalp as the first site of recurrence is very low. Dean et al (1983) found only 2 patients with scalp metastases in 7800 women with breast cancer treated with mastectomy, with or without post operative adjuvant therapy, an incidence of 0.025%. Clearly, primary metastases are rare.

Does scalp cooling increase the incidence of scalp recurrence in early stage breast cancer?
The most extensive literature report on scalp cooling was conducted by Tollenaar (1994) who reviewed 25 publications (1973 - 88) with a total of 1282 patients. No case of scalp metastases was reported in scalp cooled patients receiving adjuvant chemotherapy. In their own scalp cooling study of 35 adjuvant treated breast cancer patients no case of scalp metastases was found with a mean follow up of over 4 years. More recent published studies involving scalp cooled adjuvant breast cancer patients have not reported any scalp metastases (Ron 1997, Lemanger 1997).

The review by Tollenaar reported cases of scalp metastases in five scalp cooled patients with disseminated breast cancer out of a total of 96 patients. It remains uncertain whether these lesions would have occurred in the absence of scalp hypothermia.

Overall the problem of scalp metastases is very difficult to determine either way. There is currently no clinical or scientific evidence that the incidence of scalp metastases is increased in scalp cooled patients. The condition is very rare and the patient sample required to establish the answer in a randomised study borders on the impossible.

Literature commentary: Scalp Metastases
"...a practical concern is the risk of scalp metastases. This risk appears to be minimal. Fisher studied 7800 women with breast cancer treated with mastectomy alone or with post operative adjuvant therapy. Of these patients, only 2 experienced scalp recurrence (approximately 0.025%) as their first site of recurrence. Both these patients had positive lymph nodes and one received adjuvant chemotherapy. These date clearly indicate that there is a minimal risk of scalp metastases as the site of first recurrence in breast cancer patients........we believe that scalp hypothermia can routinely be used with a variety of solid tumours such as breast, ovarian, pancreatic, thyroid, gastric, osteosarcomas etc."

Dean J.C. et all J Clin Oncol 1 33 (1983)

"It is concluded that the hair preserving effect of scalp cooling is mainly due to the metabolic effect of cooling, and only to a minor extent due to the flow reducing effect"

Bulow J at al Scand J Clin Lab Invest 45 505 - 508 (1985)

"None of the patients (in our study) that were treated with scalp hypothermia developed scalp metastases (mean follow up time 48 months) 5 cases of scalp metastases after scalp hypothermia of 96 patients treated for disseminated breast cancer were reported in two series. No case reports of scalp metastases after scalp cooling for adjuvant chemotherapy for breast cancer were found in the literature."

Tollenaar RAEM et al Eur J Cancer (A) 30 1488 - 1453 (1994)

"...nor has the literature yet yielded reports of any increased incidence of scalp metastases in the women that have undergone hypothermia in the past 15 years."

Ron IG Support Care Cancer 5 136 (1997)

"No reported scalp metastases after the cold cap in adjuvant breast cancer chemotherapy was found in the literature. In our experience, we have been using the cold cap for about 15 years and no increase in the rate of scalp metastases has been observed.

Lemanger M et al Eur J Cancer 33 297 - 300 (1997)

Aug 17, 2009 01:56AM London-Virginia wrote:

bump

Aug 17, 2009 10:47AM gmp300 wrote:

Hello KarenVW, I just finished 4 tx of taxatere/cytoxin and I still have almost all my hair!!  Yeah!!  When I say almost all- I mean that I lost strands of hair after I combed it.  Not much more than when I brushed it all day.  No one can see a difference in my hair although I may have thinned a very litlle bit.  Iam very happy with my results.  Now that chemo is over I don't have to deal with trying to grow my hair back or wigs.  I look and feel normal.  Well Iam still fatigued from chemo and that's not normal!  LOL!!  Iam sure that all chemo drugs may have a different result and some may need longer post cooling than I had.  But the hassle of changing my caps and drinking water, and I also chewed on ice to ward off the metallic taste in my mouth (which helped) was well worth it.  I was a little cold but I dressed warm and it wasn't bad.  My head was like a brain feeze for the first 5 minutes you put the cap on but then goes away and you don't feel it anymore.  All in all it wasn't to bad and I would do it again.  It was only one day every 3 weeks that I had to do it.  If you need more info go to their website  Penguin Cold Caps or pm me.  Geri

Aug 18, 2009 06:21PM makingway wrote:

I have been helping a woman with the Penguin Cold Caps. They are working! She has kept her hair. There was a spot at the base of her neck where the cap wasn't tight enough the first time we used them, so, she did lose a little there, but overall she has all her hair! And most of all, she doesn't look like a 'Chemo Patient'. Here is a link to the website if you are interested in keeping your hair while doing chemotherapy. http://www.msc-worldwide.com/index.html

Aug 19, 2009 02:57AM London-Virginia wrote:

Taken from another post, here is info on one type of cold cap treatment top give you an idea of how it works 

http://www.msc-worldwide.com/index.html