A gel made from goat placenta could prevent hair loss in patients undergoing chemotherapy, new research suggests.
The animal’s placenta is packed with proteins called growth factors, which stimulate the production of cells that make up hair follicles, from which bulbous roots grow into the skin hairs.
In tests on breast cancer patients who received chemotherapy with doxorubicin (an injection) and cyclophosphamide (a tablet), more hair grew in the areas treated with the gel.
The hair was also denser and the individual hair shafts were thicker and stronger.
The volunteers rubbed the goat placenta gel over their heads twice a day for three months during their cancer treatment.
About two-thirds of patients undergoing chemotherapy experience partial or complete hair loss.
That’s because the mechanism of the drugs does not distinguish between cancer cells and healthy cells.
So while they are effective at destroying cancer cells, they also damage many healthy cells, including hair follicles.
A gel made from goat placenta could prevent hair loss in patients undergoing chemotherapy, new research suggests
About two-thirds of patients undergoing chemotherapy experience partial or complete hair loss
This is not only traumatic for many patients, but can also have a huge psychological impact – especially for women.
It may take months or even years for the hair to fully grow back, and when it does, it may have a different color and texture.
The NHS currently recommends the use of 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 reduce the amount of the toxic drug reaching the delicate hair follicles.
But it is not suitable for all tumor types and its effectiveness varies: some studies show it limits hair loss to less than 50 percent in almost two-thirds of patients.
In addition, approximately one in ten patients stop using the caps due to the extreme cold, headaches and side effects of 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 have created a gel from a protein extracted from the goat placenta (which is similar in composition to the human placenta) and hyaluronic acid, a sticky substance naturally found in the body that lubricates joints and helps hair retain moisture and strength to hold.
They asked 11 women undergoing chemotherapy for breast cancer to apply the gel to one part of their head twice a day.
Over the next three months, researchers compared hair growth on the treated area with that on untreated areas in each patient.
Hair loss is not only traumatic for many patients, but 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 week eight, treated hair had grown an average of more than 10mm, compared to no growth or even hair loss in the untreated areas.
Now the team plans to conduct further studies involving a larger group of patients.
Dr. David Fenton, dermatologist and hair loss specialist at the 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 results from 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 this led to an increased number of hair follicles.
They said it blocks the drug’s harmful effects, the journal Bioorganic Chemistry reported.