Most of the 40 or so chemotherapeutic agents cause baldness by producing a weakened hair shaft that breaks off at the scalp. Hair may take years to return to normal. Nausea and vomiting are common.
Many patients get sick just pulling into the hospital parking lot.
Such nausea can lead to weakness, weight loss, dehydration and electrolyte imbalance. Other GI effects are infections of the mucous lining, lips, tongue and mouth. Abdominal colic, constipation, diarrhea are all common. Doxorubicin causes esophagus inflammation in 50 percent. Surgeons treat this by excising the skin, followed by grafts to repair the damage.