New research suggests that a gel made from goat placenta could prevent hair loss in patients undergoing chemotherapy.
The animal’s placenta is packed with proteins called growth factors that stimulate the production of cells that form hair follicles, bulb-shaped roots in the skin from which hairs grow.
In tests on breast cancer patients who were receiving the chemotherapy drugs doxorubicin (an injection) and cyclophosphamide (a tablet), more hairs grew in areas treated with the gel.
The hair was also denser and the individual shafts were thicker and stronger.
The volunteers rubbed goat placenta gel on their heads twice a day for three months during their cancer treatment.
Approximately two-thirds of patients receiving chemotherapy experience partial or complete hair loss.
This is because the mechanism of the drugs does not discriminate between cancerous and healthy cells.
So while they are effective at destroying cancer cells, they also damage many healthy cells, including those that make up hair follicles.
A gel made from goat placenta could prevent hair loss in patients undergoing chemotherapy, new research suggests
Approximately two-thirds of patients receiving chemotherapy experience partial or complete hair loss.
Not only is this traumatic for many patients, but it can have a huge psychological impact, especially for women.
Hair can take months or even years to fully grow back, and when it does, it may be a different color and texture.
The NHS currently recommends using cold caps (filled with a cold gel or liquid that quickly cools the scalp) for 30 minutes before chemotherapy to reduce blood flow and therefore decrease the amount of toxic drug reaches the delicate hair follicles.
But it’s not suitable for all tumor types and effectiveness varies: Some studies show it restricts hair loss to less than 50 percent in nearly two-thirds of patients.
Additionally, approximately one in ten patients stop wearing caps due to extreme cold, headaches and nausea.
The latest research, conducted by Ubon Ratchathani University in Thailand and published in the journal Pharmaceuticals, suggests that goat placenta could be an alternative solution.
Scientists created a gel from a protein extracted from goat placenta, which is similar in terms of composition to human placenta, and hyaluronic acid, a sticky substance found naturally in the body that lubricates joints and helps hair to retain moisture and strength.
They asked 11 women who were receiving chemotherapy for breast cancer to apply the gel twice a day to one part of their heads.
Over the next three months, the researchers compared hair growth in the treated area with that in the untreated areas in each patient.
Hair loss is not only traumatic for many patients, but it can also have a huge psychological impact, especially for women.
The results showed that the gel increased hair length by an average of 7 mm after four weeks of treatment.
By the eighth week, the treated hair had grown an average of more than 10 mm, compared to no growth or even hair loss in the untreated areas.
The team now plans to carry out further studies with a larger group of patients.
Dr David Fenton, consultant dermatologist and hair loss specialist at OneWelbeck clinic in London, said: ‘This is interesting research, especially as chemotherapy-induced hair loss can be very distressing for patients.
“But we need to see the results of much larger studies before we can be sure it is effective.”
Meanwhile, a molecule in ginger could also combat hair loss caused by chemotherapy, according to a study from Yanbian University in China.
Researchers fed mice with hair loss caused by the chemotherapy drug cyclophosphamide small amounts of cedrol (a natural compound in ginger) and found that it produced an increased number of hair follicles.
They said it blocks the harmful effects of the drug, the journal Bioorganic Chemistry reported.