Recent Skin Cancer Removal From The Scalp Left Behind a Bald Spot - Can a Hair Transplant Fix This?

Written by Brandon Ross, MD on October 16, 2008

I recently had some skin cancer removed from my scalp. Much to my dismay, I was left with a sizeable bald spot. Even further disappointing was to learn the hair probably won’t grow back there. Can a hair transplant procedure make hair grow in this area again?
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I’m sorry to hear about your troubles, but rest-assured, you are not alone in having this problem. With certain kinds of skin cancers, it is important to make sure you remove every speck of the cancer by cutting out a wide margin around the lesion. This “better safe than sorry” approach is understandable when you consider the risk versus the reward in such cases. Taking a smaller piece of tissue would certainly leave a smaller scar and, in this case, a smaller bald area. The tradeoff for this improved cosmetic appearance, however, is that you run the risk of missing a little bit of the cancerous tissue. Any tissue left behind could regain its size and possibly spread to other organs. With a highly invasive and aggressive cancer, like a melanoma, such a spread could be lethal. The good news is that in most such instances, it is possible to successfully transplant hair into the scarred region. Without examining the area in question, it is impossible to determine what kind of outcome you could expect, so you will need to have the area checked by a qualified hair transplant physician. Grafting into scar tissue can yield a lower overall survival rate and it can take longer for the hair to begin growing, depending on the characteristics of the scar tissue. More than likely, it will take a minimum of two hair transplant procedures for you to have enough hair to adequately hide the scarred area beneath.

Brandon Ross, MD
Member, International Alliance of Hair Restoration Surgeons
Member, American Hair Loss Association

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