(Press-News.org) Hair loss during chemotherapy can cause enough distress for some women to lose self-confidence, which experts say may discourage them from seeking chemotherapy in the first place.
Oral minoxidil is a commonly prescribed treatment for hair loss. The drug is also the active ingredient in over-the-counter Rogaine. The prescription treatment is known, however, to dilate blood vessels, and experts worry that this could increase the heart-related side effects of chemotherapy and lead to chest pain, shortness of breath, or fluid buildup.
Now, a study in women with breast cancer suggests that low oral doses of minoxidil, taken during or after cancer treatment, appear to regrow hair in most patients and without causing any serious heart-related side effects that require additional therapies or hospitalization.
Led by researchers at NYU Langone Health, the new analysis included 51 women who were treated for various stages of breast cancer, of whom 25 had some combination of surgery or radiation in addition to chemotherapy, and 26 had only the former two therapies.
“Our results should offer reassurance to breast cancer patients that there is indeed a safe way to combat their hair loss,” said study co-lead author, Devyn Zaminski, BA, a medical student at NYU Grossman School of Medicine.
While past studies have examined the use of minoxidil in breast cancer patients, the new work is among the most comprehensive to date to look at both the safety and benefits of minoxidil on breast cancer patients, the researchers say.
A report on the investigation published online Dec. 3 in the Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology.
For the analysis, the research team collected data from NYU Langone Health’s electronic health record system from 2012 to 2023. Out of hundreds of breast cancer patients who were also prescribed oral minoxidil for hair loss, the investigators identified 51 women who had taken the medication for longer than one month and who had data in their charts regarding how well the drug was tolerated. Researchers took into account age, race, and past medical history. They looked at breast cancer details, other medications, and additional demographic factors.
Based on both physician assessments and the patients’ self-reports, all who took a low dose of oral minoxidil saw either improvements in hair growth or stabilization of their hair loss within three to six months of starting the therapy.
“Based on these findings, minoxidil has been shown to be safe for patients while also being effective,” said co-senior author, Kristen Lo Sicco, MD, associate professor in the Ronald O. Perelman Department of Dermatology at NYU Grossman School of Medicine. “The effectiveness of minoxidil may therefore help patients restore their sense of self and some control in a situation where it has been visibly taken away,” said Lo Sicco.
Lo Sicco suggests that additional research is needed to affirm the new results in more patients and people with other forms of cancer and chemotherapy regimens.
The research team cautions that patients may not have disclosed mild heart-related side effects, such as minor fluid buildup, because they could have occurred without any symptoms. As a result, issues may not have been entered into the patients’ health charts. Another limitation of the study, the team notes, is that some of the assessments by physicians and patients were self-reported or observed.
Study funding was provided by NYU Langone Health.
In addition to Zaminski and Lo Sicco, other NYU Langone investigators involved in the study are Ambika Nohria, BS; Deesha Desai, BS; Michael Buontempo, MS; Avrom Caplan, MD; Mario Lacouture, MD; Michael Garshick, MD; and Jerry Shapiro, MD. Michelle Sikora, BS, served as study co-lead author, and Daniel R. Mazori, MD, served as study co-senior author.
Another investigator involved in the study is Elise Olsen, MD, at Duke University in Durham, N.C.
Media Inquiries:
Maura Harnett / Shira Polan
Phone: 212-404-4279
shira.polan@nyulangone.org
END
Hair growth drug safe at low doses for breast cancer patients
2024-12-09
ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:
Giving a gift? Better late than never, study finds
2024-12-09
COLUMBUS, Ohio – If you feel terrible about giving a late gift to a friend for Christmas or their birthday, a new study has good news for you.
Researchers found that recipients aren’t nearly as upset about getting a late gift as givers assume they will be.
“Go ahead and send that late gift, because it doesn’t seem to bother most people as much as givers fear,” said Cory Haltman, lead author of the study and doctoral student in marketing at The Ohio State University’s Fisher College of Business.
In a series of six studies, Haltman and his colleagues explored the mismatch between givers’ ...
Judging knots throws people for a loop
2024-12-09
We tie our shoes, we put on neckties, we wrestle with power cords. Yet despite deep familiarity with knots, most people cannot tell a weak knot from a strong one by looking at them, new Johns Hopkins University research finds.
Researchers showed people pictures of two knots and asked them to point to the strongest one. They couldn’t.
They showed people videos of each knot, where the knots spin slowly so they could get a good long look. They still failed.
People couldn’t even manage it ...
Not so simple machines: Cracking the code for materials that can learn
2024-12-09
It's easy to think that machine learning is a completely digital phenomenon, made possible by computers and algorithms that can mimic brain-like behaviors.
But the first machines were analog and now, a small but growing body of research is showing that mechanical systems are capable of learning, too. Physicists at the University of Michigan have provided the latest entry into that field of work.
The U-M team of Shuaifeng Li and Xiaoming Mao devised an algorithm that provides a mathematical framework for how learning works in lattices called ...
Finding the weak points: New method to prevent train delay cascades
2024-12-09
[Vienna, 09.12.2024] —Train delays are not only a common frustration for passengers but can also lead to significant economic losses, especially when they cascade through the railway network. When a train is delayed, it often triggers a chain reaction, turning minor issues into widespread delays across the system. This can be costly. A report from the Association of American Railroads (AAR) indicates that a nationwide rail disruption in the US could cost the economy over $2 billion per day. Therefore, the pressing question for railway operators is: How to manage the cascading effect of delays efficiently ...
New AI cracks complex engineering problems faster than supercomputers
2024-12-09
Modeling how cars deform in a crash, how spacecraft responds to extreme environments, or how bridges resist stress could be made thousands of times faster thanks to new artificial intelligence that enables personal computers to solve massive math problems that generally require supercomputers.
The new AI framework is a generic approach that can quickly predict solutions to pervasive and time-consuming math equations needed to create models of how fluids or electrical currents propagate through different ...
Existing EV batteries may last up to 40% longer than expected
2024-12-09
The batteries of electric vehicles subject to the normal use of real world drivers - like heavy traffic, long highway trips, short city trips, and mostly being parked - could last about a third longer than researchers have generally forecast, according to a new study by scientists working in the SLAC-Stanford Battery. Center, a joint center between Stanford University's Precourt Institute for Energy and SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, This suggests that the owner of a typical EV may not need to replace the expensive battery pack or buy a new car for several additional years.
Almost always, battery scientists and engineers have tested ...
Breakthrough AI model can translate the language of plant life
2024-12-09
A pioneering Artificial Intelligence (AI) powered model able to understand the sequences and structure patterns that make up the genetic “language” of plants, has been launched by a research collaboration.
Plant RNA-FM, believed to be the first AI model of its kind, has been developed by a collaboration between plant researchers at the John Innes Centre and computer scientists at the University of Exeter.
The model, say its creators, is a smart technological breakthrough that can drive discovery and innovation in plant science and potentially across the study of invertebrates ...
MASH discovery redefines subtypes with distinct risks: shaping the future of fatty liver disease treatment
2024-12-09
Metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD), formerly referred to as nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), impacts roughly 30% of the global adult population. The disease spans from benign fat accumulation in the liver (steatosis) to its more severe form, metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis (MASH, formerly nonalcoholic steatohepatitis or NASH). MASH represents a dangerous progression, with the potential to cause cirrhosis, liver cancer, type 2 diabetes, and cardiovascular disease.
Despite ...
Three-quarters of Earth’s land became permanently drier in last three decades: UN
2024-12-09
Even as dramatic water-related disasters such as floods and storms intensified in some parts of the world, more than three-quarters of Earth’s land became permanently drier in recent decades, UN scientists warned today in a stark new analysis.
Some 77.6% of Earth’s land experienced drier conditions during the three decades leading up to 2020 compared to the previous 30-year period, according to the landmark report from the UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD).
Over the same period, drylands expanded by about 4.3 million km2 – an area nearly a third larger than India, the world’s ...
Lower-quality public housing is at high risk of flood damage
2024-12-09
AUSTIN, TX, Dec 09, 2024 – Hurricane Helene highlighted the increasing intensity of extreme weather events and the catastrophic flooding they can bring. A new study finds that many Americans residing in lower-quality public housing face a high risk of experiencing flood-related damages as their homes are disproportionately located in areas of high flood risk.
A study by scientists from the Ohio State University and Texas A&M University has combined HUD’s physical inspection scores of public housing units across the country (from 2013-2020) with ...