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No effect of scalp cooling on survival among women with breast cancer

Breast Cancer Research and Treatment volume 149, pages 263–268 (2015)Cite this article

Abstract

Scalp cooling can prevent chemotherapy-induced alopecia in some cancer patients. It is not used in all countries. No data are available regarding its impact, if any, on survival. The aim of this study was to compare overall survival according to whether or not scalp cooling was used during neoadjuvant or adjuvant chemotherapy for non-metastatic breast cancer. We conducted a retrospective cohort study of 1,370 women with non-metastatic invasive breast carcinoma who received chemotherapy in the neoadjuvant or adjuvant setting. A total of 553 women who used scalp cooling came from a tertiary breast cancer clinic in Quebec City (diagnosed between 1998 and 2002) and 817 were treated in other hospitals in the province of Quebec (between 1998 and 2003) where scalp cooling was not routinely available. Overall survival of women who used scalp cooling and those who did not was compared using Cox proportional hazards models. Median follow-up for the scalp-cooled and the non-scalp-cooled groups was 6.3 years and 8.0 years, respectively. Overall mortality was no different (adjusted hazard ratio 0.89, 95 % confidence interval: 0.68–1.17, p = 0.40) among scalp-cooled women, compared to those not getting scalp cooling. Among women getting neoadjuvant or adjuvant chemotherapy for non-metastatic breast cancer, scalp cooling used to prevent chemotherapy-induced alopecia had no negative effect on survival. To our knowledge, this is the first study to compare survival of women who used scalp cooling to that of women who did not.

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Acknowledgments

J.L. was a Clinical Research Scholar from the Fonds de Recherche en Santé du Québec (FRQS) at the time of this work.

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest.

Ethical standards

The study is a chart review and scalp cooling use was routine at the CMSDF.

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Affiliations

  1. Centre de recherche, Centre hospitalier universitaire (CHU) de Québec, Hôpital du Saint-Sacrement, 1050 chemin Sainte-Foy, Québec, QC, G1S 4L8, Canada

    J. Lemieux, L. Provencher, J. Brisson, C. Blanchette & E. Maunsell

  2. Centre des Maladies du Sein Deschênes-Fabia, Centre hospitalier universitaire (CHU) de Québec-Hôpital du St-Sacrement, 1050 chemin Ste-Foy, Quebec, QC, G1S 4L8, Canada

    J. Lemieux, L. Provencher, J. Brisson, C. Blanchette & E. Maunsell

  3. Département de médecine, Faculté de Médecine, Université Laval, Pavillon Ferdinand-Vandry, 1050 ave de la Médecine, Quebec, QC, G1V 0A6, Canada

    J. Lemieux

  4. Département de chirurgie, Faculté de Médecine, Université Laval, Pavillon Ferdinand-Vandry, 1050 ave de la Médecine, Quebec, QC, G1V 0A6, Canada

    L. Provencher

  5. Département de médecine sociale et préventive, Faculté de Médecine, Université Laval, Pavillon Ferdinand-Vandry, 1050 ave de la Médecine, Quebec, QC, G1V 0A6, Canada

    L. Perron, J. Brisson & E. Maunsell

  6. Institut Nationale de Santé Publique, 945 ave Wolfe, Quebec, QC, G1V 5B8, Canada

    L. Perron & J. Brisson

  7. Faculté de Médecine, Université Laval, Pavillon Ferdinand-Vandry, 1050 ave de la Médecine, Quebec, QC, G1V 0A6, Canada

    C. Amireault

Authors
  1. J. Lemieux
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  2. L. Provencher
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  3. L. Perron
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  4. J. Brisson
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  5. C. Amireault
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  6. C. Blanchette
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  7. E. Maunsell
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Correspondence to J. Lemieux.

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Lemieux, J., Provencher, L., Perron, L. et al. No effect of scalp cooling on survival among women with breast cancer. Breast Cancer Res Treat 149, 263–268 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10549-014-3231-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10549-014-3231-0

Keywords

  • Breast cancer
  • Scalp cooling
  • Survival
  • Alopecia