Oral minoxidil for late alopecia in cancer survivors.

PURPOSE: Late alopecia, defined as incomplete hair regrowth > 6 months following cytotoxic chemotherapy or > 6 months from initiation of endocrine therapy, negatively impacts quality of life and may affect dose intensity of adjuvant therapy. This study investigates the effect of oral minoxidil in women with chemotherapy and/or endocrine therapy-induced late alopecia. METHODS: The rate of clinical response was assessed by standardized photography and quantitated with trichoscopy. RESULTS: Two hundred and sixteen patients (mean age 57.8 ± 13.7) were included. The most common cancer diagnosis was breast, in 170 patients (79.1%). Alopecia developed after chemotherapy in 31 (14.4%) patients, endocrine monotherapy in 65 (30.1%) patients, and chemotherapy followed by endocrine therapy in 120 (55.6%) patients. In 119 patients, standardized photography assessments were used to determine clinical change in alopecia after a median of 105 (IQR = 70) days on oral minoxidil and revealed improvement in 88 (74%) patients. Forty-two patients received quantitative trichoscopic assessments at baseline and at follow-up after a median of 91 (IQR = 126) days on oral minoxidil. Patients had clinically and statistically significant increases in frontal hair shaft density (from 124.2 hairs/cm2 at initial to 153.2 hairs/cm2 at follow-up assessment, p = 0.008) and occipital shaft density (from 100.3 hairs/cm2 at initial to 123.5 hairs/cm2 at follow-up assessment. p = 0.004). No patients discontinued oral minoxidil due to adverse events. CONCLUSIONS: Overall, oral minoxidil was well tolerated by patients and may benefit both frontal and occipital late alopecia in cancer survivors treated with cytotoxic and/or endocrine therapy by increasing hair shaft and follicle density.

Dermatological Adverse Events in Prostate Cancer Patients Treated with the Androgen Receptor Inhibitor Apalutamide.

PURPOSE: Patients with prostate cancer (PCa) treated with apalutamide frequently develop rash. We aim to characterize apalutamide-related dermatological adverse events (dAEs) and management. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We assessed 303 patients with PCa treated with apalutamide. DAE frequency and time to onset were calculated and clinicopathological features and management described. Associations between dAE occurrence and clinical trial participation, as well as abiraterone/prednisone exposure were detected using logistic regression models. RESULTS: Seventy-one (23.4%) patients had all-grade dAE occurring at a median of 77 (IQR: 30-135) days post-exposure. Twenty (6.6%) dAE-related therapy interruptions included: 8 (2.6%) with dose maintained on rechallenge, 7 (2.3%) with dose reduction and 5 (1.7%) with discontinuation. Common dAEs were maculopapular rashes (33.8%) and xerosis (32.4%). Seven (77.8%) of 9 histological analyses of skin biopsies supported a drug reaction. No significant differences in laboratory hematological, hepatic and renal function were detected between dAE and no dAE cohorts. Most treated grade 1/2 dAEs (29, 40.8%) required topical steroids (14, 19.7%); few required oral steroids (3, 4.2%) ± oral antihistamines. Most grade 3 dAEs (8, 11.3%) required oral/topical steroids (5, 7.0%); few required topical steroids (3, 4.2%) ± oral antihistamines. Clinical trial patients (180, 59.4%) were more likely to report dAEs than those in the off-trial setting (OR=5.1 [95% CI 2.55-10.12]; p <0.001). Of clinical trial patients, concomitant abiraterone/prednisone recipients (109 of 180, 60.6%) were more likely to report dAEs (OR=3.1 [95% CI 1.53-6.17]; p=0.002). CONCLUSIONS: Apalutamide-related dAEs are frequent and can be managed with topical ± oral steroids. With expanded approval of apalutamide, dAE identification and management are essential.

Real-Time Reflectance Confocal Microscopy of Cutaneous Graft-versus-Host Disease Correlates with Histopathology.

Reflectance confocal microscopy (RCM) allows noninvasive, real-time evaluation of the skin at a resolution akin to histopathology (HP), but its application in cutaneous graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) has not been extensively assessed. We describe RCM features of cutaneous GVHD including acute (aGVHD), late acute, chronic (cGVHD; sclerotic and nonsclerotic subtypes), and inactive GVHD and correlate RCM with same-site HP for a subset of patients. Thirty-two adult and pediatric allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation (allo-HCT) recipients with cutaneous GVHD received RCM imaging of ≥1 lesions (n = 44), 13 of which necessitated skin biopsy. RCM images were deidentified and assessed by 2 RCM experts blinded to clinical and HP findings to reach a consensus on the features and patterns of the inflammatory dermatoses. Major RCM features (present in ≥65% of lesional sites) and patterns were reported. To determine the correlation between RCM and HP, detection of cellular features and patterns of inflammatory dermatoses were compared using percent agreement and prevalence-adjusted, bias-adjusted kappa estimates. Seven patients with early or late aGVHD (7 lesions) had irregular honeycombing, spongiosis, dermoepidermal junction (DEJ) and dermal inflammation, and melanophages; those with early aGVHD also had hyperkeratosis, dilated vessels, and coarse connective tissue. Both groups had an interface dermatitis pattern. Eighteen patients with nonsclerotic cGVHD (24 lesions) had irregular honeycombing, spongiosis, DEJ and dermal inflammation, dilated vessels, coarse connective tissue, and interface and spongiotic dermatitis patterns. Three sclerotic patients with cGVHD (7 lesions) had irregular honeycombing, DEJ and dermal inflammation with an interface dermatitis pattern. Four patients with inactive GVHD (6 lesions) showed minimal inflammation. RCM and HP had similar detection rates for 6 of 13 features and overall patterns important for diagnosis in 2 patients with late aGVHD (2 lesions; 15%) and 10 with nonsclerotic cGVHD (11 lesions; 85%) necessitating skin biopsy. RCM can detect features commonly reported in cutaneous GVHD and is comparable to HP. Additional characterization of cutaneous GVHD by RCM may enable future use in diagnosing, monitoring, or predicting disease in real time.