Preston cancer charity doubles access to anti-hair loss technology for patients

Hospital worker using Paxman Scalp Cooling Systems

Cancer patients in Preston and Chorley undergoing chemotherapy that has potential hair loss as a side-effect now have double the access to technology aimed at preserving their hair.

Cancer charity Rosemere Cancer Foundation has just spent £84,815 on six new Paxman Scalp Cooling Systems.

The charity had already helped to fund six systems, which were being shared between the chemotherapy unit at Rosemere Cancer Centre at Royal Preston Hospital and the new chemotherapy unit it also helped fund at
Chorley and South Ribble Hospital.

The additional systems the charity has bought now means that each unit can have its own six Paxmans, which together are capable of treating up to 12 patients simultaneously at any one time (two patients each per every one system).

Dan Hill, chief officer of Rosemere Cancer Foundation, said: “As anti-hair loss technology has improved, the number of both male and female patients requesting access to it has also increased.

“We had reached a situation whereby some patients were asking to delay their treatment to wait for Paxman systems to become available, while others were reluctantly having treatment without being able to use one. Sharing the systems across the two chemotherapy units also meant constantly having to move them, which increased the potential risk of them becoming damaged.

“Hopefully now every patient, whether in Preston or Chorley, who wants to use anti-hair loss technology, has access to it without having to wait or fix their appointment around the availability of Paxman systems.”

The pioneering, British-made Paxman systems work via the attachment of a ‘cool cap’, which patients wear while undergoing chemotherapy. The cap chills the scalp to reduce blood flow to the area so that less chemotherapy medicine is able to reach and penetrate the hair follicles.

Dan added: “Hair preservation is not about vanity. Keeping their hair can help patients have a more positive attitude towards treatment as well as giving them back a sense of control. Hair loss is a tell-tale sign of chemotherapy and there are patients who don’t want everyone they see knowing they have cancer just by looking at them.”