Hair Loss with Carboplatin Alone

MJS19

Has anyone had experience with hair loss/hair thinning on carboplatin alone? It's very hard to find a consistent answer to this question. I've looked at all the most reputable sites, and the answer varies when it comes to how likely that would be.

So. I'm hoping for information from women who have taken/are taking carboplatin alone for 6 rounds (or more).

Thanks.

NoTimeForCancer

MJS19, sorry I don't fit the criteria of carbo along for 6 (or more), but I think you find the variation because there is not a definitive answer. Everyone is different and just as treatment affects everyone differently, I think the side effects do as well.

I suspect you might be experiencing this? I'm sorry. I hope someone who has also undergone the same treatment can chime in.

MJS19

Thank you for responding. I'm used to definite or near definte answers for hair loss -- yes on taxol (therefore, yes on the taxol/carbo combination), no on herceptin or avastin. With carboplatin, some sites say no, some say rare, some say yes. Mayo, which is one of my go-to sites says "This medicine may cause a temporary loss of hair in some people." That is what is making me reluctant. I had a relatively easy time with chemo, but losing may hair again is a hard no, and when avastin stops controllong growth, my oncologist would love for the next step to be chemo again. He's good with just the carboplatin, and he hasn't noticed hair loss in his carbo alone patients, but I think he isn't likely to notice hair thinnning, which I'm not willing to do either.

Thanks again!

NoTimeForCancer

MJS19, I'm sorry, thank you for telling a little more of the story here.

Is the plan to stop Avastin if you started Carbo or you would have both together. The harder chemo on hair loss is taxotere, and that is closer to Taxol, not Carbo.

I understand your feelings about losing your hair. It makes sense. Have you had genetic testing done? Are their any of the immuneotherapy drugs available to use?

MJS19

https://csn.cancer.org/discussion/comment/1710452#Comment_1710452

Thanks, No Time,

If I do the carbo again, it won't be with avastin, which I will have been on for over a year. There are other possibilities with the platinum drug, but I may decide not to do them and go with the carbo alone. I won't, for sure, do any taxane again, as I'm unwilling to lose my haor a third time. I think the drug my gyn/onc is going to recommend with the carboplatin this time is the doxy one related to the red devil. I don't think I'm willing to take that, so it may be just the carbo.

The molecular testing was done when I regressed two years ago, and I had it done again a couple of months ago; my doctor and I are waiting on those results to make further decisions. When I recurred again last December, the textbook next thing for me would have been Keytuda and Lenvima, which I was not willing to do, and the genetics of my cancer made me not a candidate for Keytruda alone.

Right now, the avastin is pretty much containing the growth. I love the lack of side effects and would love to stay on it as long as possible. My doctor and I periodically talk about what comes next, and as time passes the need for what's next comes closer, hence my looking for a certainty that I am not likely to find that carboplatin alone wouldn't be likely to cause hair loss.

Thanks again.