Hair Loss Cure 2020 | Hair loss blog with the latest news updates.

Bicalutamide for Female Pattern Hair Loss

A number of recent reviews, studies and presentations conclude favorably in regards to the use of oral bicalutamide to treat female pattern hair loss (FPHL).

In 2022, researchers from Brazil reviewed various studies and concluded that oral bicalutamide seems to be a promising option to expand the arsenal of FPHL treatment. They do point out the need for clinical trials to establish the ideal dose and efficacy of the drug.

At the 2022 ISHRS conference, Dr. Sergio Vañó Galván discussed two “new medications” to treat hair loss: bicalutamide and clascoterone (aka Breezula).

Moreover, at the same conference, Dr. Alba Gómez-Zubiaur had a presentation titled: “Mesotherapy with Bicalutamide: A New Treatment for Androgenetic Alopecia.” In April 2023, he published a study on this interesting mesotherapy delivery method for bicalutamide. Make sure to also read my post on mesotherapy and dutasteride.

In 2020, a group of Spanish researchers retrospectively reviewed all patients who were receiving oral bicalutamide (OB) for FPHL at their hair clinic between February 2018 and February 2020. A total of 44 women receiving OB 25-50 mg daily were included. They concluded that OB had favorable hair growth results and a very good safety profile, even when used in combination with oral minoxidil or spironolactone. One of their patient’s before and after photo is shown at the top of this post.

In 2020, a team from Australia led by Dr. Rodney Sinclair reviewed the safety results in 316 women treated with bicalutamide. Doses ranged from 5 mg per day to 50 mg per day. The vast majority of them were also using oral minoxidil or spironolactone. In general, the safety profile was excellent and the drug benefitted female androgenetic alopecia (AGA) patients. The few patients who got a mild elevation in liver enzymes saw no adverse symptoms.

Side Effects

Bicalutamide has no diuretic effect and it does not cross the blood brain barrier. In comparison to another popular anti-androgen called flutamide, bicalutamide has a much lower rate of liver toxicity. Moreover, unlike the former, the latter does not affect serum luteinizing hormone and testosterone levels.

Bicalutamide can cause a mild elevation of liver transaminases (enzymes), peripheral edema and gastrointestinal complaints in a very small percentage of users. These side effects are usually reversible. Overall, this medication seems to cause fewer side effects than Spironolactone, the most popular anti-androgen that is used for reducing hair loss.

Note that bicalutamide is often used as an antiandrogen in feminizing hormone therapy for transgender women. And also as a puberty blocker in adolescent transgender girls.

In 2017, the combination of bicalutamide and a birth control pill was evaluated in a phase III clinical trial for the treatment of severe hirsutism in women with PCOS. The combination was found to be significantly more effective than a birth control pill alone.

Update: April 19, 2022 — Scientists from Harvard Medical School have managed to regenerate inner ear hair cells that enable hearing (h/t “Rali”). They claim to have moved closer to a gene therapy solution for sensorineural hearing loss, although no human clinical trials have started as yet.

The research team was led by Dr. Zheng-Yi Chen. They reported creating a drug-like cocktail of different molecules that successfully regenerated hair cells in a mouse model by reprogramming a series of genetic pathways within the inner ear. The full study was published on April 17, 2023 in PNAS.

Note that the team identified and used a combination (cocktail) of drug-like molecules that was composed of small molecules and siRNAs. Make sure to read my past related posts on siRNA as well as on creating the ultimate hair loss drug cocktail.

Frequency Therapeutics

Update: April 21, 2023 — Frequency Therapeutics phase IIb clinical trial results for FX-322 have been officially posted. A total of 142 adult patients were involved, 72 of whom got the placebo. The remaining 70 got a single intratympanic injection of FX-322 (laduviglusib 0.628 mg/sodium valproate 17.72 mg) into their hearing loss affected ear.

In February, the company announced that these trials did not succeed and the company’s stock price subsequently collapsed.

Update: March 29, 2022 — Update on MIT spinout Frequency Therapeutics and its drug candidate that stimulates inner ear hair cell growth.

February 21, 2017

An interesting new article titled “Drug treatment could combat hearing loss” seems to have little bearing with scalp hair loss. However, hearing loss is usually caused by permanent damage to many of the 15,000 hair cells in each inner ear. Regenerating those with this new drug therapy could also indicate a similar potential for regenerating scalp hair cells.

In the article, the author discusses a new paper that is published in the February 21 issue of Cell Reports. In fact, the findings of this paper are so important that the cover page of the journal has a photo taken directly from the research. Note that the lead scientists are also working on this technology via a new company called Frequency Therapeutics.

Ear Hair Follicle Regeneration

In this paper, a team of scientists (from MIT, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, and Massachusetts Eye and Ear) have found a way to regenerate tiny inner ear hair follicles via a drug combination treatment.

This combination is a two step process where in the first step, a combination of drugs expands the progenitor cell population. In the second step, another combination of drugs induces the new cells to differentiate into hair cells.

In one variation of the experiment, the second step was not even necessary because “once the progenitor cells were formed, they were naturally exposed to signals that stimulated them to become mature hair cells”.

I am pretty certain that I have read articles in the past about ear hair cell regeneration. I might even have mentioned one or two of them in passing on this blog before. However, this particular article and associated study warranted its own separate post and stuck out for two key reasons:

The researchers succeeded in regenerating mouse ear hair cells via creating new progenitor cells. This is quite astounding to me because in regular scalp hair loss, scientists have found that hair is not lost due to the death of hair cells, but rather, due to the death of progenitor cells. So if these scientists can create new progenitor cells in the ear that lead to ear hair regeneration, I do not see how they can not try to use the same method to create new progenitor cells in the scalp.
The researchers accomplished their potentially ground breaking achievement via stimulating the Wnt signaling pathway. I have discussed that pathway numerous times on this blog in the past, since it seems to be crucial for scalp hair growth. Moreover, well known company Samumed’s hair loss drug is targeting that same pathway.

Will ear hair cell research and findings become applicable towards scalp hair cell research? I really hope so, and this new work is encouraging due to the involvement of the Wnt/Beta-Catenin pathway.