Shorter post-infusion cooling times at least as effective as longer cooling times — An observational study of taxane- and anthracycline-based chemotherapies in the Dutch Scalp Cooling Registry
摘要
Chemotherapy-induced alopecia (CIA), a very common and distressing side effect of cancer treatment can be effectively prevented by scalp cooling. The aim of this observational study was to estimate the effect of post-infusion cooling time (PICT) on wearing a head cover for taxane- and anthracycline-based chemotherapies.
MethodsThe Dutch Scalp Cooling Registry (DSCR), which started in January 2006, collected data from 4680 scalp-cooled patients across 68 Dutch hospitals. Questionnaires on patient, chemotherapy and scalp cooling characteristics were completed by patients and nurses. The patient-reported primary outcome included the use of head covering during the final scalp cooling session. Analysis included patients who had received Docetaxel 75 or 100 mg/m2 (D75 or D100), Paclitaxel 70–90 or 160–180 mg/m2 (T70-90 or T160-180), Adriamycin 60 mg/m2 and Cyclophosphamide 600 mg/m2 (AC), or 5-Fluorouracil 500 mg/m2 Epirubicin 90 or 100 mg/m2 and Cyclophosphamide 500 mg/m2 (FE90C or FE100C).
ResultsShorter post-infusion cooling times (< 85 minutes) seem to be sufficient for maintaining scalp cooling effectiveness in the chemotherapy regimens studied, with no added benefit from extending cooling time beyond this threshold.
ConclusionFor all anthracycline and taxane-based chemotherapy regimens studied, shorter PICTs delivered comparable results to longer PICTs.