• Question: if you have cancer do you always loose your hair?

    Asked by icecream19 to Amar, Ana, Andrea, Leah, Matt on 13 Mar 2014.
    • Photo: Matthew Lam

      Matthew Lam answered on 13 Mar 2014:

      Most people that have chemotherapy to treat their cancer will lose their hair. This is because chemotherapy doesn’t just attack cancer cells but all the fast growing cells in your body. This includes cells that make up hair follicles and cells of your immune system.

    • Photo: Anastasia Wass

      Anastasia Wass answered on 13 Mar 2014:

      No, cancer doesn’t make you lose your hair. The chemotherapy drugs used to treat cancer do that.
      This is because these drugs target and kill cells that divide fast. Cancer cells aren’t the only ones in your body that divide quickly, your hair does and so does your stomach. Another side effect of chemotherapy is feeling sick.

    • Photo: Amar Joshi

      Amar Joshi answered on 13 Mar 2014:

      As the other answers have said it is the chemotherapy that leads to hair loss. Chemo is used very commonly and is probably why people think that cancer leads to hair loss. But no you know you can tell people why.

    • Photo: Andrea Hanvey

      Andrea Hanvey answered on 13 Mar 2014:

      the others are right it is the chemotherapy drugs that result in people losing there hair. However there are many different chemotherapy drugs and regimes used to treat different cancers. The drugs used to treat breast cancer quite often lead to hair loss, however those used to treat colonic cancer dont usually result in hair loss.

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