KEY TAKEAWAYS
- The study aimed to understand the views of patients and chemotherapy nurses on the ASC experience.
- The results concluded that ASC reduced hair loss during breast cancer chemotherapy but didn’t enhance body image. Nurses lacked support.
Patients undergoing breast cancer chemotherapy have access to Automated Scalp Cooling (ASC) to reduce chemotherapy-induced alopecia.
Benjamin E Ueberroth and the team aimed to understand the perspectives of patients and chemotherapy nurses regarding the ASC experience.
In this survey-based study, chemotherapy nursing staff and patients with breast cancer provided feedback on ASC regarding efficacy, side effects, administration, support, and overall opinions. Nurses from a large, multi-regional tertiary healthcare system completed a single survey about their ASC administration experiences. Breast cancer patients who used ASC were surveyed, along with a control group undergoing alopecia-inducing chemotherapy without ASC, for comparison.
Most nursing responses highlighted insufficient technical support and a heavier workload in administering ASC compared to other clinical tasks. Additionally, they expressed reluctance to recommend ASC to their family or friends.
Patients who underwent ASC experienced significantly less hair loss and were less inclined to shave their heads or wear wigs. However, this did not result in significant differences in body image or psychosocial well-being responses. The time commitment emerged as the most notable challenge associated with ASC.
The study concluded that patients undergoing alopecia-inducing breast cancer chemotherapy experienced significantly less hair loss with ASC usage compared to those without ASC.
However, this reduction did not result in improved body image. Additionally, the majority of chemotherapy nurses reported insufficient support in ASC administration and would not endorse it. Enhanced nursing support could enhance the ASC experience for both patients and nursing staff.
No funding information was available.
Source: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38842732/
Ueberroth BE, Kosiorek HE, Nafissi NN, et al. (2024). “Patient and nursing staff perspectives on automated scalp cooling (ASC) for chemotherapy-induced alopecia in breast cancer.” Support Care Cancer. 2024 Jun 6;32(7):412. doi: 10.1007/s00520-024-08611-2. PMID: 38842732.
