WEDNESDAY, Feb. 28, 2024 -- Patients with alopecia areata (AA) are willing to accept substantial risks for the potential of obtaining hair regrowth, according to a study published in the February issue of the Journal of Dermatology.

Tommi Tervonen, Ph.D., from Kielo Research in Zug, Switzerland, and colleagues quantified the treatment preferences of adolescent (ages 12 to 17 years) and adult (ages 18 years and older) patients with AA in the United States and Europe to examine the trade-off they are willing to make between benefits and risks. Benefits included 80 to 100 percent probability of scalp hair regrowth and achieving moderate-to-normal eyebrow and eyelash hair. Three-year probabilities of serious infection, cancer, and blood clots were included as treatment-related risks.

The researchers found that for 201 adults and 120 adolescents, a 50 percent probability of achieving hair regrowth on most or all of the scalp was the most important attribute; compared with adults, adolescents placed greater relative importance on this attribute. Adolescents were averse to the risk for cancer, while adults were averse to the risks for serious infection, cancer, and blood clots. Adults were willing to accept a mean three-year risk for serious infection, cancer, and blood clots of 7.4, 2.5, and 9.3 percent, respectively, for a 20 percent increase in the probability of 80 to 100 percent scalp hair regrowth. Adolescents were willing to accept a 3.3 percent three-year risk for cancer.

"Patients with AA are willing to accept substantial risk to obtain hair regrowth, which is not surprising because AA carries a heavy socioeconomic and emotional burden," the authors write.

Several authors disclosed ties to pharmaceutical companies, including Pfizer, which funded the study.