To analyze the effect and safety of scalp cooling therapy on chemotherapy-induced alopecia in breast cancer patients.

This was a prospective study. Totally 124 breast cancer patients who received chemotherapy in the Department of Breast Surgery, the Shengjing Hospital of China Medical University from October 2016 to May 2018 were enrolled and randomized into the control group and intervention group, 62 patients in each group. During chemotherapy, patients in the control group were given routine care and treatment, while a scalp cooling device was used for continuous cold compress in the patients of intervention group and the safety of this therapy was monitored. The Mann-Whitney U test was used to compare the incidence of hair loss after 4 cycles of chemotherapy between two groups. The t test was used to compare the body image and life quality scores between two groups after the chemotherapy.

(1)During the study, five patients refused to continue chemotherapy because of adverse reactions, and two patients withdrew from the study because of headache. After chemotherapy, 117 patients completed this experiment (57 in the intervention group and 60 in the control group). There were 28 cases of grade 1 hair loss and 29 cases of grade 2 hair loss in the intervention group, 5 and 55 in the control group. The hair loss in the interventional group was significantly improved compared with the control group(Z=4.880, P<0.050). (2)The body image scale (BIS) and Nightingale Symptom Assessment Scale (N-SAS) were used to evaluate the body image and life quality of patients. The results showed that the scores of BIS and N-SAS in the intervention group were significantly lower than those in the control group after chemotherapy (7.6±5.2 vs 9.5±5.2, 1.3±1.4 vs 1.9±1.7, t=-2.039, -2.010, both P<0.050). (3)The incidence of adverse reactions was 29.8%(17/57). The patients reported headache, coldness in scalp, paresthesia, dizziness, nausea and chills. There were no serious adverse reactions.

In breast cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy, the scalp cooling device can effectively reduce the incidence of hair loss and improve the body image and quality of life, worthy of clinical application.