Chemo and Hair Growth

Hi, in regards to this man’s question from your site: Hair Grew Back After Many Years

Did he ever send you pictures? I know names are kept confidential, but if what he says is true, there may be something closely related to my problem, which I consider extremely serious but no one else does.

When I was 22 had testicular cancer, right testicle removed, then 2 years later it spread to my lungs. I had 4 cycles of first line chemo, the most you can get, and afterward my hair grew back completely normally – no hair thinning, loss, recession – it was like it was always, a complete head of hair. But a few months later, the cancer showed up again, so I went on HIGH DOSE chemotherapy for 4 months. It’s been about 1 year since then, and since, my hair looks like I’ve been balding for decades. 4 months and I go from a complete head of hair to visible balding at the back of my head. The strange thing is, the follicles are completely miniaturized, but all over my head, and even my underarm hair and pubic hair are thinned out. The fact that it won’t grow on top is killing me however. I have very little family history of this, my dad is 50 and his hair isn’t budging.

Anyway, I’m not expecting you to give me solutions, just answers, or at least an intelligent hypothesis. I cross-referenced a list of the American academy of dermatologists and the New Yorker’s list of top 50 doctors to find a specialist, and here’s what he told me: “sometimes after chemo the texture of the hair can change. What’s happening with you is, male-pattern-baldness is probably affecting it somewhat but it’s at a right angle to your problem, it’s most likely a mixture of different things.” This was supposed to be the cream of the crop. He refused to do tests, scalp biopsies, anything, saying they would show nothing so why do them.

I know a decent amount about this after obsessing about it for a year over internet research. I know chemotherapy has nothing to do with dht, and right now my oncologists want me to go on testosterone supplements because my levels are low, so I know that this is not a straightforward problem.

Please, give a poor guy at the end of his ropes a break, don’t cast me out as one of the millions of hopeless cases. I’ve done this a hundred times, and have been disappointed with responses like “sorry, can’t help.” Can you at least take a hypothetical stab at an explanation, or put me in contact with that guy who’s hair grew back with chemotherapy?

In regards to the patient you mentioned whose hair grew back — unfortunately, there were no pictures supplied in his email.

Your hair loss is likely a result of your chemotherapy (you knew that). Your hair texture and growth cycle does change after chemotherapy (you knew that). A biopsy will not help, because we already know the cause of your hair loss (you knew that too, but it wasn’t explained to you in the right way). It takes time and everybody is different (again, you knew that). A year is a long time, but there is nothing except time on your side before you can see if your hair will grow back (you should know this too).

It seems you have done your homework and want a solution, but sometimes there is nothing more than what you already know. In the mean time, you should follow your oncologist’s advice.