Scalp Cooling Can Prevent Hair Loss During Chemo for Breast Cancer

For Maureen Green, scalp cooling was a crucial part of her breast cancer treatment journey, as it prevented chemotherapy-induced hair loss.

Green, who was diagnosed in 2018 at the age of 34, received treatment at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York. She shared her story with New York state lawmakers in 2023, and the state recently enacted legislation requiring large private health insurance policies to cover scalp cooling systems for patients receiving chemotherapy, a law which takes effect on Jan. 1, 2026.

CURE: Can you tell me how the concept of scalp cooling was introduced to you, and what role that played over the course of your treatment?

Green: I heard about scalp cooling initially from one of the nurses at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. It was during that first meeting with my oncologist, where she told me the treatment plan and everything that would that would happen, she let me know that I would lose all of my hair after the first chemo infusion, and that for me, was a very difficult moment.

Obviously, all of it is overwhelming and scary, but the thought of also looking really sick and not being able to control who knew what was going on with me just was like the nail in the coffin; it was just one final blow to all of this, like I won't even be able to just take my daughter to the playground and feel like a normal person. Everyone will know I'm sick.

So at that meeting, the nurses brought it up that it was an option. I didn't feel like they pushed it very hard, because it is a big financial burden. It, at the time, was not covered by insurance, so I think they didn't want to push any patient to try something that they may not be able to afford. We had to weigh the financial costs after I was diagnosed.

We also went through fertility treatments to protect the ability to expand our family down the line, and that costs a lot of money because it also wasn't covered by insurance, and there's just a lot of costs that come with cancer treatment as well. So, we had a big decision to make, and we decided to give it a try, and I was very lucky that it worked.

It adds a lot of time to your treatment; physically you have to wear [the cap] before the treatment and during and afterwards. So it adds time sitting in the treatment suite, and it's pretty uncomfortable, but I would say it was worth it to me.

You shared your story with lawmakers as part of the push to get scalp cooling covered by insurance. Tell me a bit about why you decided to advocate for this and to help other patients in the future?

Someone from Paxman, which is the company that makes the scalp cooling machines that I used, reached out after I had finished my treatment and asked if I would make a statement to help them get this legislation passed. I felt like we were so lucky to be able to afford to do it, it just seems so unfair that somebody would have to make that choice just based on financial reasons. It seemed like if you're willing to give it a try, you should be able to because it's very important to a lot of people to be able to look like themselves and have control over the privacy of their diagnosis. So, I did give my patient impact statement… I was very glad to help in any way I could, and I'm very happy that the legislation has since passed.

What advice or encouragement do you have for someone who's newly diagnosed with breast cancer that you wish you'd heard earlier?

It's hard to listen when you're in such a tough spot. But if someone were willing to listen to advice, I would say to accept help when it's offered, and also ask for help when you need it, and just to take things one step at a time. It can be very overwhelming to think about everything that you'll have to go through.

Iit takes a long time to beat cancer, but it's worth it, obviously. In the end, you just have to go get through one thing at a time and just stay the course.

Transcript has been edited for clarity and conciseness.

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