Tamoxifen-Induced Total Alopecia

Fabio Puglisi; Giuseppe Aprile; Alberto Sobrero

doi:10.7326/0003-4819-134-12-200106190-00029

Letters |19 June 2001

Tamoxifen-Induced Total Alopecia

Fabio Puglisi, MD; Giuseppe Aprile, MD; Alberto Sobrero, MD

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TO THE EDITOR:

We describe a case of alopecia in a 53-year-old woman receiving the antiestrogen tamoxifen (20 mg/d) for biopsy-proven, estrogen receptor–positive metastases to the supraclavicular lymph nodes. The patient was taking no other medications.

Mild alopecia occurred after 3 months, with hair loss in the frontal (Figure, top) and nuchal areas. The patient continued tamoxifen treatment, although alopecia progressively worsened. At the most recent follow-up visit (13 months after tamoxifen therapy was started), the patient wore a wig to mask complete hair loss (Figure, bottom). Hair distribution was normal in other areas of the body. Complete blood count, results of routine serum chemistry tests, levels of CA 15-3, and results of thyroid function tests were normal. Sex hormone levels were in the postmenopausal range. The testosterone level was 1.040 nmol/L.

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2001 American College of Physicians

Letters |19 June 2001

Tamoxifen-Induced Total Alopecia

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Letters |19 June 2001

Tamoxifen-Induced Total Alopecia

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