Hello,
I had an allogeneic stem cell transplant last November for acute myeloid leukemia (AML). It worked.
My dosage of cyclosporine (Neoral) is gradually being reduced. The first side effect was it boosted hair growth. My sons said I was a monkey.
As the dosage went down from 100 to 75, the hair on the body started falling out. Now the dosage is 50, and the hair on my head is falling out.
Has anyone experienced this and, if they have, does the hair on the head grow back?
A great forum. Thank you,
aaron
Forums
2 posts
• Page 1 of 1
-
Aaron - Name: Aaron
- Who do you know with myeloma?: Diagnosed with AML last April.
- When were you/they diagnosed?: 2015
- Age at diagnosis: 45
Re: Hair loss as cyclosporine dose is reduced
Hi Aaron,
Most importantly, congratulations on successfully completing the allogeneic transplant and positive vibes being sent your way that you are cured of AML! Hopefully you will be able to taper off the cyclosporine in a timely manner.
I did not use cyclosporine after my allogeneic transplant, but I did use Prograf (tacrolimus), which is a drug in the same class. Cyclosporine can be used to treat certain types of alopecia. Here is an old study showing this.
"Cyclosporine inhibits the activation of helper T cells that may be pathogenic in alopecia areata. Therefore we treated six patients with alopecia areata (five men, one woman) with oral cyclosporine, 6 mg/kg/day for 12 weeks. Three patients had alopecia universalis, one had alopecia totalis, and two had patchy alopecia areata of the scalp. Hair regrowth in the scalp of all patients occurred within the second and fourth weeks of therapy, followed by hair regrowth of the face and chest (in the male patients), pubic area, extremities, and axillae. Overall, the site of best response was the scalp. Cosmetically acceptable terminal hair regrowth on the scalp occurred in three of six patients. Significant hair loss, however, occurred in all patients within 3 months of discontinuation of cyclosporine treatment. Clinical response correlated with changes in immune cell infiltration of the hair follicles."
Source: Gupta, A.K., et al, "Oral cyclosporine for the treatment of alopecia areata: A clinical and immunohistochemical analysis," Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology, Feb 1990 (link to abstract)
If you go on pubmed.gov and search things like cyclosporine, hair, and alopecia, you will see many, more recent studies discussing this.
I know that patients that do solid organ transplants that have to stay on Prograf long term can experience hair loss. I did not have any issue when using Prograf for 6 months. I lost my hair from the chemo at the transplant and it grew back so I do not have any experience with issue.
Hopefully you will fully taper off the cyclosporine in a timely fashion and you will not have to deal with this hair loss issue (or blood cancer!) ever again,
Mark
Most importantly, congratulations on successfully completing the allogeneic transplant and positive vibes being sent your way that you are cured of AML! Hopefully you will be able to taper off the cyclosporine in a timely manner.
I did not use cyclosporine after my allogeneic transplant, but I did use Prograf (tacrolimus), which is a drug in the same class. Cyclosporine can be used to treat certain types of alopecia. Here is an old study showing this.
"Cyclosporine inhibits the activation of helper T cells that may be pathogenic in alopecia areata. Therefore we treated six patients with alopecia areata (five men, one woman) with oral cyclosporine, 6 mg/kg/day for 12 weeks. Three patients had alopecia universalis, one had alopecia totalis, and two had patchy alopecia areata of the scalp. Hair regrowth in the scalp of all patients occurred within the second and fourth weeks of therapy, followed by hair regrowth of the face and chest (in the male patients), pubic area, extremities, and axillae. Overall, the site of best response was the scalp. Cosmetically acceptable terminal hair regrowth on the scalp occurred in three of six patients. Significant hair loss, however, occurred in all patients within 3 months of discontinuation of cyclosporine treatment. Clinical response correlated with changes in immune cell infiltration of the hair follicles."
Source: Gupta, A.K., et al, "Oral cyclosporine for the treatment of alopecia areata: A clinical and immunohistochemical analysis," Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology, Feb 1990 (link to abstract)
If you go on pubmed.gov and search things like cyclosporine, hair, and alopecia, you will see many, more recent studies discussing this.
I know that patients that do solid organ transplants that have to stay on Prograf long term can experience hair loss. I did not have any issue when using Prograf for 6 months. I lost my hair from the chemo at the transplant and it grew back so I do not have any experience with issue.
Hopefully you will fully taper off the cyclosporine in a timely fashion and you will not have to deal with this hair loss issue (or blood cancer!) ever again,
Mark
-
Mark11
2 posts
• Page 1 of 1
Return to Treatments & Side Effects