Device Helps Cancer Patients Keep Their Hair During Chemo

DEVER (CBS4) - A new device could prevent hair loss due to chemotherapy but its makers are not seeking Food and Drug Administration approval.

Cancer patients wear the cap for 30 minutes during chemo treatment and then for an hour after.

(credit: CBS)

The cap cools the scalp to about 24 degrees Fahrenheit, reducing blood flow and keeping the chemo out of the area.

A study shows the device prevented hair loss in over half the patients who used it.

Karen Dicken, who was diagnosed with breast cancer only lost about 5 percent of her hair.

"It was a gift," Dicken said. "To be able to go through that process and keeping my hair kept me positive and that's what pushed me through."

There is one other similar device already on the market. The Digni-Cap treatment is offered at the UCH Lone Tree Health Center.