Community Health & Wellness

New option at St. Anthony can help patients undergoing chemotherapy keep their hair

St. Anthony Hospital has a new option for chemotherapy patients who are approved to use cold capping during their treatment, which reduces the alopecia side effect of the drugs. Two months ago the hospital received its first cold capping machine, which is available to patients of the outpatient clinic who choose to use it.

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“The idea behind it is that you decrease the temperature of the scalp so the blood vessels restrict, and less chemo goes to the hair follicles,” said Sheila Niven, nurse manager of patient support services. 

While patients have had access to some other cold cap methods, Niven said this machine is one of only two FDA-approved machines. It uses a coolant that circulates through a cap that straps onto the patient’s head. 

Niven said that over 67% of patients retain 60% or more of their hair.

Cold capping has been in use for about 10 years, according to the American Cancer Society. Patients who use the different systems have had success in preventing hair loss that is common during chemotherapy treatment.

A patient’s story

Shelly Voigt was the first patient to use the machine at St. Anthony. When she was diagnosed with breast cancer, she worried about the impact her diagnosis and treatment would have on her family. It was important to her to remain as healthy and healthy-looking as she could.

As a physician assistant at St. Joseph Medical Center in Tacoma and a mother to two young children, she dreaded the idea of losing her hair. She feared that losing her hair could induce fear in her children, but also could be unsettling for the patients in her care. Her doctor told her she was a good candidate for cold capping, she said.

“The choice to preserve your hair during chemo is not for everybody,” Voigt said. “Some don’t want to worry about it, but for us, personally, it was important for me to try to keep things normal.”

Shelly Voigt was the first patient to use the new Dignicap Delta cold capping machine during her chemotherapy treatment at St. Anthony. The machine uses coolant to keep the scalp cool, restrict blood vessels and allow less chemotherapy drugs to reach the hair follicles. Photo courtesy of Shelly Voigt

She continued to work while undergoing treatment. She wanted to present as a physician assistant, not a sick physician assistant.

“I get a lot of meaning from my work and what I do, and I worried a little about my patients feeling like they were getting taken care of by someone who was sick,” she said.

Preserving normalcy

Keeping her hair allowed Voigt to decide if, when, and who she wanted to tell about her diagnosis.

“I didn’t want people to know that I had cancer unless I wanted to share that with them,” she said. “It preserved a lot of normalcy, and was good for my mental health.”

When she began her treatment, Voigt started with a dry ice method, which she said was more difficult. It requires special gloves, extra help to transport 80 pounds of dry ice, and help at the chemo appointment to change caps. The dry ice keeps the cap at -30- to -45 degrees.

But, two months ago, just after Voigt began her chemotherapy treatment, a new coolant cold cap machine arrived at St. Anthony. Voigt used it for the duration of her treatment. It uses a liquid coolant that is kept at 37 degrees, Niven said.

“The patient keeps the cap, and the machine stays at the clinic,” Niven said. “Staff get trained to help them put it on. We start the cooling process a half hour before the treatment, and all through chemo, and depending on the treatment it can take up to 1 1/2 hours after the treatment.”

Information about the machine at St. Anthony is going out to area oncologists so they can discuss the option with their patients at the time that they discuss chemotherapy, Niven said. 

Who it’s for

Not everyone is a candidate for cold capping. According to the American Cancer Society, it is not recommended for anyone under the age of 18. Patients should discuss the option with their doctor.

After Shelly Voigt completed her chemotherapy treatment, she retained almost all of her hair. She used cold capping during her treatment at St. Anthony. It’s a method of cooling the scalp to restrict the blood vessels, allowing less chemotherapy drugs to reach the hair follicles. Photo courtesy of Shelly Voigt

Costs vary depending on insurance. Medicare began covering it in 2022 up to $1,850, and the cost of using the machine at St. Anthony is $200 for up to 15 hours at a time. That was one of the considerations when choosing the machine, Niven said.

“They sign up with the company, and the company sends the patient a card, and they activate it with the machine,” she said. “They pay by the treatment instead of upfront for a specific number of times.”

Another nurse at St. Anthony who went through treatment two years ago said she wishes the machine had been available to her. Katie Coberly said that she also used the dry ice cold capping, and it was the only thing available to her at the time she was undergoing treatment. 

“My sister did a gofundme, because the dry ice was expensive,” Coberly said. “It was so different than what we have here.”