Chemotherapy refers to a class of medical therapy used to treat cancer. There are over 100 different types of chemotherapy medications, with varying methods of administering the medication and varying doses and levels of effectiveness. However, most chemotherapy agents have one property in common: they are designed to interfere with cell reproduction. This property of chemotherapy medication is responsible for its effectiveness in fighting cancer, but it is also responsible for its effect on hair follicles.
The Cell Cycle
To understand the effect of chemotherapy on hair follicles, it is essential to understand the function of cells and cell reproduction. Certain cells in the body, like cancer cells and cells in hair follicles, reproduce frequently. This means the original cell makes a copy of itself and then dies. There are five phases to cell reproduction, which happen over a period of time. At the end of the five phases, the original cell has created a carbon copy of itself, and this new cell is able to serve the same function as the original cell was serving.
Phases of the Cell Cycle
The five phases of cycle reproduction include G0, G1, S, G2 and M. The G0 phase is the resting stage, when the cell has not yet begun to divide or reproduce. Hair follicle cells do not stay in this resting phase for very long before receiving a signal to move into the G1 phase and begin reproduction. In the G1 phase, which lasts between 18 and 30 hours, the cell grows larger and begins to produce more proteins. This will allow the cell to eventually divide into two cells, with each cell strong enough to support itself and be normally sized. The "S" phase follows, and lasts between 18 and 20 hours. In the S phase, the DNA from the original cell is copied so that the new cell will have the same DNA structure as the original cell. In the G2 phase, which follows and lasts between two and 10 hours, the DNA is checked and the cell begins the process of splitting into two separate cells. In the final M phase, the cell actually splits. This takes between 30 and 60 minutes.
Hair Cells & Chemotherapy
Chemotherapy generally attacks cells during the S or M phase, preventing the reproduction of the cell. Because cancer cells are continually reproducing, this chemotherapy has the effect of destroying or killing the cancer cells by interfering with the reproduction process. Unfortunately, the chemotherapy can't tell the difference between the quickly reproducing cancer cells and the quickly reproducing hair follicle cells. Thus, the chemotherapy also interrupts the hair follicle cells during their reproduction, causing them to be unable to divide and reproduce properly as well.
When Will the Hair Loss Occur?
Typically, hair loss begins within two weeks of beginning chemotherapy, because the majority of hair follicle cells have tried and failed to reproduce by this point. Some patients report feeling a tingling on the scalp or a sore scalp when the hair loss begins. If the chemotherapy agent is strong enough to cause full hair loss, the process of hair loss usually is finished between three and seven days after the hair loss began, when there are no remaining healthy hair follicle cells. Hair loss is not permanent and when the chemotherapy stops, healthy hair follicle cells begin to reproduce again.
Manage Hair Loss
Hair loss can't be stopped or diminished. Patients should not attempt to stop the hair loss using ice, as this may decrease the ability of chemotherapy to kill any cancer cells around the head.
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