DigniCap: A Cool Option for Chemotherapy Patients

Terry Murray’s hairstyle is chic, with her brown hair cut in a fashionable bob. When she was diagnosed with HER2-positive, stage 2B breast cancer in 2022, her first thought was, “Am I going to die?” Her second thought was, “Am I going to lose my hair?”

For Terry, the retired chief financial officer of Beaufort-Jasper Water & Sewer Authority, it was less about vanity and more because she did not want to be constantly reminded of her illness or unable to “hide” it from the rest of the world.

“I have two friends in their 30s with toddlers who were diagnosed with breast cancer,” Terry says. “A big concern for them was that they did not want their children to be afraid of them if they lost their hair. I had not thought about a mother’s fear for her children versus her own vision in the mirror.”

She is not alone. According to the American Cancer Society, one in eight women will develop invasive breast cancer in the course of their lifetime. The majority of these women will experience psychological distress regarding their diagnosis and selecting the best course of action, the financial burden of cancer treatment, and concern about looking like a cancer patient, especially when it comes to hair loss.

“Hair loss means many things to many women and men,” Terry says.

While in a hospital waiting room, Terry noticed a brochure on scalp cooling to minimize hair loss for patients during their chemotherapy cycles. She was about to start her infusions and turned to her medical providers for advice.

“You have to advocate for yourself,” she says. “It is not that you are questioning the medical team but rather making yourself more informed. Information is power. And with a cancer diagnosis, you want all the power you can get.”

Terry discovered that the treatment was available close to home, as Beaufort Memorial Hospital was the only facility in the area with the training and equipment to administer DigniCap, a leading product in the reduction of chemotherapy-induced alopecia, the clinical term for hair loss, for patients with solid tumors.

“The fact that this local hospital would offer DigniCap speaks volumes,” Terry says, who was familiar with the nonprofit hospital, having chaired its board of trustees from 2014 to 2018. “I was pleased to see that Beaufort Memorial had the foresight to get involved with the DigniCap system and rely on new technology to care for patients.”

The concept of cooling the scalp dates back to the 1970s when some cancer patients began using bags of frozen vegetables or ice packs to try to stop the cancer drugs from burning their hair. In the early 2000s, a Swedish oncology nurse partnered with an engineer to develop the DigniCap system, and in 2015, the medical device received FDA clearance.

“I have seen firsthand the benefits of DigniCap,” says Beaufort Memorial oncology nurse Brandie Gillian, RN, who treated Terry. “By cooling the scalp, you decrease the blood flow to the area so less of the chemicals reach the hair cells.”

Terry first met Gillian via a phone call.

“I called her because I was frightened about the infusion process and questioned if DigniCap would work,” Terry says. “Brandie’s voice was reassuring.”

Terry is particularly grateful to Gillian and all the BMH nurses for their compassion, care and keeping her at ease, including “continuously bringing warm blankets.”

“Beaufort Memorial has an incredible cancer treatment team, and everyone has the patient in mind,” Terry says. “I never was so uncomfortable that I thought, ‘I cannot do this.’ Although the DigniCap treatment is extremely cold at first, it does go away.”