Late-onset robust curly hair growth in a patient with BRAF-mutated metastatic melanoma responding to dabrafenib

Abstract

Development of curly hair has been infrequently described in association with BRAF inhibitors in clinical trials, and usually affects patients between 6 and 24 weeks of therapy. The curly hair is typically preceded by initial hair thinning or even diffuse alopecia. We report herein an occurrence of late-onset robust curly head hair growth in a patient with metastatic melanoma responding well to dabrafenib, without being preceded by hair thinning. The curly hair in our patient developed at 11 months of therapy with dabrafenib. Occurrence of late-onset, robust curly hair might represent a prognostic marker of clinical response to these agents. If our hypothesis is correct, we expect more reports of late-onset, robust curly hair growth with the use of this class of pharmaceuticals. Moreover, newer generations of BRAF inhibitors may expand the armory of hair care products in the future.