Dermoscopy: 4th Conference of the Section of Dermoscopy and Other Skin Imaging Techniques of the Polish Dermatological Society - Abstracts

Alopecia can result from neoplastic infiltration of hair follicles, as seen in conditions like mycosis fungoides (MF) and Szary syndrome (SS), affecting 2.5% of 1,550 patients with these conditions. Of these cases, 34% presented as patchy hair loss similar to alopecia areata, while 66% were associated with skin lesions or erythroderma, often leading to irreversible scarring due to T-cell lymphocytic infiltration. Scalp metastases, originating from cancers such as breast, lung, and cervical, can also cause alopecia, affecting 4-7% of patients, and may be the first sign of the disease. Chemotherapy leads to hair loss in 40-100% of patients, with drugs like taxanes and doxorubicin causing permanent alopecia in 40-46% of cases. Targeted therapies, such as VEGFR inhibitors, are less commonly linked to hair loss. Trichoscopy is essential for differential diagnosis in these scenarios.