Hi Shelby,

I've had:

Cisplatin (3 infusions, 3 weeks apart) with 8 weeks of radiation. No hair loss, but since I had a BoT primary and 4 involved Lymph nodes (both sides of throat), I did lose my full beard - but not my mustache!

The beard fell out, but only below a line from the corner of my mouth to the bottom of my earlobes and extended to the other corner of my mouth.

And all of that fell out within less than 45 minutes while I had my cat on my lap. I only noticed it when I got up to go the the bathroom and saw my beard on my shirt, and not on my face where I'd have preferred it to be.

When I had my first recurrence, I got treated with Taxol/Carboplatin. I lost my hair - all of it - eyebrows, mustache, chest, and everywhere else.

All of that came back rather quickly after my chemo ended. I don't know of anyone who has not had their hair return, and it usually comes back better than it was before it fell out.

I have used a pill-form of Chemo that goes by the name "Xeloda," which is enzymatically converted to 5-fluorouracil in the tumor, where it inhibits DNA synthesis and slows growth of tumor tissue. (according to wikipedia.) I did not lose any hair during that treatment, although I was told it might happen.

In fact, I'm currently treating another recurrence with Xeloda, I'm in the second week of my third (of four) cycle, and have one more to go before my next PET scan. I do get a bit of hearing loss with each chemo regime, but no nausea or hair loss.

Hope this info helps.

Bart