“I don’t like my Cancer and I don’t like to loss my hair.” As quoted by a patient for chemotherapy. Chemotherapy has been proven as an effective treatment for numerous Cancer types through the years of medical endeavors and discoveries. Unfortunately, It can also lead to CIA or Chemotherapy induced alopecia.

Losing one’s hair seems to be one of the reasons why people refuse treatment. For someone else it may be a little impractical to gamble one’s survival in fighting the big C but patients delivered this option against a far more grave illness have indecisions to subject themselves to chemotherapy.

One of the observed reasons why patients refuse for treatment is due to the emotional loss that they may be again dealing at par with the losses already acquired through the disease process.

The hair loss is produced by cytotoxic drugs through damaging the hair follicles which are actively growing types. They are attacked because the action the drugs are selective for rapidly proliferating cells that mirror the rate of the hair follicles. CIA usually begins to take place two to four weeks after initial treatment. Almost all cases of CIA are reversible and hair follicles again initiate their growth process after 6 months. The new hair after the loss may grow with changes to the color and texture. Irreversible alopecia might be caused by increased dose and extensive exposure to busulphan and cyclophosphomide combination used for bone marrow transplant as studies show.