Cancerbackup: Q-222

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Alison

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I am being treated for lymphatic leukaemia with the UKALL XII regime. I am having radiotherapy to my head. I know that after chemo my hair will grow back but friend has said that having radiotherapy means I will permanently lose my hair. Nobody has told me this. Is it true?

You are quite right that after chemotherapy treatment, if there has been any hair loss, then the hair always grows back over the next few months.

When radiotherapy is given to the head this also causes hair loss. With radiotherapy, however, whether the hair grows back after treatment depends on the dose of radiation given.

The dose of radiotherapy used in the UKALL XII treatment is relatively low compared to that used to treat many other types of cancer. This means that usually the hair will grow back again once the programme of chemotherapy and radiotherapy has been completed.


Content last reviewed: 21 August 2007
Page last modified: 03 September 2007

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