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 — bulb‑like roots in the skin hairs grow from.
In tests on patients with breast cancer who were being given chemotherapy drugs doxorubicin (an injection) and cyclophosphamide (a tablet), more hairs grew in areas treated with the gel.
The hair was also denser and individual hair shafts were thicker and stronger.
The volunteers rubbed the goat placenta gel on their head twice a day for three months during their cancer treatment.
Roughly two-thirds of patients who have chemotherapy experience partial or complete hair loss.
That’s because the drugs’ mechanism doesn’t discriminate between cancerous and healthy cells.
So while they are effective at destroying cancer cells, they also harm many healthy ones – including those that make up hair follicles.
A gel made from goat placenta could prevent hair loss in patients undergoing chemotherapy, new research suggests
Roughly two-thirds of patients who have chemotherapy experience partial or complete hair loss
This is not only traumatic for many patients, but it can have a huge psychological impact – particularly for women.
Hair can take months or even years to fully grow back, and when it does it can have a different colour and texture.
The NHS currently recommends the use of cold caps (filled with a cold gel or liquid that rapidly cools the scalp) for 30 minutes before chemotherapy to reduce blood flow and therefore lower the amount of the toxic drug reaching delicate hair follicles.
But it’s not suitable for all tumour types and the effectiveness varies: some studies show it restricts hair loss to less than 50 per cent in nearly two-thirds of patients.
Plus, about one in ten patients stop using the caps because of the extreme cold, headaches and nausea side-effects.
The latest research, by Ubon Ratchathani University in Thailand, and published in the journal Pharmaceuticals, suggests goat placenta could be an alternative solution.
Scientists created a gel from a protein extracted from goat placenta — which is similar in terms of its make-up to human placenta — and hyaluronic acid, a gooey substance found naturally in the body which lubricates joints and helps hair retain moisture and strength.
They asked 11 women who were undergoing chemo for breast cancer to apply the gel twice daily to one part of their head.
Over the following three months, researchers compared hair growth in the treated area with that in untreated areas in each patient.
Hair loss is not only traumatic for many patients, but it can have a huge psychological impact – particularly for women
The results showed the gel increased hair length by an average of 7mm 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 on the untreated zones.
Now the team plan to carry out further studies involving a larger group of patients.
Dr David Fenton, a consultant 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 that it’s effective.’
Meanwhile, a molecule in ginger could also combat hair loss triggered by chemotherapy, according to a study by 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 it led to higher numbers of hair follicles.
They said it blocks the harmful effects of the drug, reported the journal Bioorganic Chemistry.
