Cold cap therapy allows chemotherapy patients to keep hair

Woman fights cancer through chemotherapy without losing hair thanks to cold scalp treatment

DETROIT – Two things stand out as Debbye Gregory steps off the elevator.

The blanket in her bag and her destination: The oncology clinic.

"Someone always asks me every time I'm up here, 'Why do you have an electric blanket?'" Gregory said. "They can't believe I have cancer, for one, because I don't look like a cancer patient because I have my hair."

In order to keep her hair, Gregory uses what's called the penguin cold cap. She sits with the helmet-shaped ice cap chilled to negative 22 degrees Fahrenheit on her head for seven hours as she undergoes chemotherapy. That's why she brings the electric blanket.

"When you first put it on, for the first minute, it's the worst," she said. "Once your head gets frozen, it's really pretty comfortable. I know it looks funny, ha-ha."

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The sub-freezing temperature stops blood flow to the scalp so the toxic chemicals fighting the cancer do not reach the hair follicles.

Gregory decided the rental fee of $500 per month was worth it after seeing the cap work with other patients. She received the OK from her oncologist at Baylor-Sammons Cancer Center in Dallas, Texas.

Oncologist not concerned with patient using cold cap:

"From a medical standpoint, I'm not worried about it," said Dr. Joyce O'Shaughnessy, oncologist. "I think it does make it easier to go through this chemotherapy thing because you have your hair."

Gregory said losing hair would be a reminder that she is sick.

It happened to her sister who died from breast cancer three years ago.

When Gregory got her diagnosis last year she was ready for her own fight.

"Women love their hair," she said. "It's a big part of who we are, and going through this being able to keep my hair, that's amazing."

The cold cap was tested by cancer patients at Beaumont Hospital in Royal Oak.

Researchers say many of those Beaumont patients saw significant reduction in chemotherapy hair loss.