Taxotere and Permanent Hair Loss

Publish Date : 04/19/2016

Cancer is a horrible disease. It can strike people with little warning and have devastating effects on a person’s health and well being and the lives of their loved ones. What’s even more distressing is that the treatment for cancer can often be nearly as bad as the cancer itself.

Many people are prescribed chemotherapy as part of their cancer treatment. It is common knowledge that chemo can make a person lose their hair. What is less known, however, is that some chemotherapy drugs increase the risk of permanent hair loss. This type of hair loss has a negative impact on the lives of those who suffer from it. Even after their cancer is in remission, some people continue to look sick because their hair won’t come back.

Permanent chemo-related hair loss is called Alopecia Persistent Significant. Many chemotherapy drugs carry a risk of permanent hair loss, but some drugs have a greater risk than others. One such drug may be Taxotere, a treatment for breast cancer. Sanofi-Aventis, the manufacturer of Taxotere, claims that about three percent of patients using its drug may experience permanent hair loss. Two other studies dispute this number, however, and put the number of people suffering permanent baldness at as high as 15.8 percent. This difference in probabilities for a life-changing side effect could cause women to select a different form of treatment. Unfortunately, many women do not know of the risk that Taxotere may pose.

One French doctor has started warning his patients of the possibility of permanent baldness that can be associated with Taxotere. French oncologist, Hugues Bourgeois, offers his patients an alternative treatment called Paclitaxel. Paclitaxel has a lower risk of permanent hair loss, but requires more frequent chemotherapy sessions. Many women choose to forego the convenience of less frequent treatment for the lower risk of permanent hair loss.

If you or a loved one have experienced permanent hair loss after taking Taxotere, give us a call. You may be entitled to compensation for the post-cancer suffering that you have endured. We can help.