# Supplements sold for hair growth after cancer treatment

Source: https://onco.cc/technologies/hair-supplements-marketed/  
OnCo record `hair-supplements-marketed` (Technology). Data CC BY-NC 4.0, attribute "Data from OnCo (onco.cc)"; commercial use needs a licence.

## TL;DR

Biotin, marine-protein and multi-ingredient capsules are advertised directly to people whose hair has thinned after treatment. No randomised trial of any of them has been run in chemotherapy or endocrine-therapy hair loss. High-dose biotin also distorts hospital blood tests, including the one used to diagnose a heart attack.

## Summary

Search for hair regrowth after chemotherapy and the results are mostly products. The honest position is short: there is no randomised evidence that any oral supplement helps hair loss caused by cancer treatment, because no such trial has been run. The nearest evidence is in general hair loss rather than in cancer. A 2026 systematic review and meta-analysis of 14 studies and 967 adults with alopecia or hair thinning, testing commercial supplements (Ceramosides, Nutrafol, Nourkrin, Lambdapil, Viviscal, Forti5, Cynatine HNS and others) found a reduction in resting-phase hair density and an increase in growing-phase density, but no significant difference in total hair count, and its authors called for rigorous independent research; many of the underlying trials were funded by the companies selling the products. For biotin specifically, a review found 18 reported cases of its use for hair and nail changes, all in people with an underlying cause of poor growth, and concluded that there is not enough evidence for supplementation in healthy people.

The only guideline to address this says the same thing gently: the ESMO guideline on dermatological toxicities suggests checking thyroid-stimulating hormone, vitamin D, zinc and ferritin and correcting a deficiency if there is one, and says biotin or orthosilicic acid can be considered as an initial treatment but are not generally recommended. Correcting a measured deficiency is a different matter from taking a supplement because the label mentions hair.

The reason to grade this rather than ignore it is a specific harm. The United States Food and Drug Administration warned in 2017, and again in 2019, that biotin in a blood sample can cause clinically significant incorrect test results, and singled out troponin, the marker used to diagnose a heart attack: before the 2017 communication it had received a report of one patient taking high levels of biotin who died after a falsely low troponin result. The 2019 update says many dietary supplements promoted for hair, skin and nail benefits contain biotin at up to 650 times the recommended daily intake, that the FDA is aware of many containing 20 mg and some up to 100 mg per pill with instructions to take several a day, and that there is not enough information to know whether stopping biotin for any number of hours before a test prevents the error. Both communications have since been taken off the FDA website and are linked here through the web archive; the FDA's live page on assays subject to biotin interference says it continues to receive reports of falsely low troponin results. People on cancer treatment have frequent blood tests and a raised risk of cardiac events, which is why this belongs on this page and not in a footnote. Tell the team what you take.

## Fields

- Kind: Technology
- Status: negative
- Last checked: 2026-10-02
- Tags: complementary; supportive-care; hair-loss; evidence:insufficient
- Principle: Biotin is a cofactor for carboxylase enzymes and a true deficiency causes hair and nail changes, which is the kernel of truth the marketing is built on. The interference with laboratory tests is chemical rather than biological: many immunoassays use a biotin and streptavidin binding step, and excess biotin in the sample competes with it.
- Strengths: Correcting a measured iron, vitamin D, zinc or thyroid deficiency is reasonable and has a guideline behind it; Cheap, and most ingredients are not directly toxic
- Limitations: No randomised trial in chemotherapy or endocrine-therapy hair loss; Total hair count did not improve in the meta-analysis of commercial supplements in people without cancer; Many underlying trials are funded by the manufacturer; High-dose biotin falsifies immunoassay results, troponin among them; Money spent here is money not spent on a wig or on minoxidil

## Sources

- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dietary_supplement
- Alanazi et al., evaluating the effectiveness of commercial oral supplements for hair growth: systematic review and meta-analysis (Journal of Cosmetic Dermatology 2026): https://doi.org/10.1111/jocd.70817
- Patel et al., a review of the use of biotin for hair loss (Skin Appendage Disorders 2017): https://doi.org/10.1159/000462981
- US Food and Drug Administration: biotin interference with troponin lab tests, assays subject to biotin interference: https://www.fda.gov/medical-devices/in-vitro-diagnostics/biotin-interference-troponin-lab-tests-assays-subject-biotin-interference
- US Food and Drug Administration safety communication, 5 November 2019: the FDA warns that biotin may interfere with lab tests (archived; removed from fda.gov): http://web.archive.org/web/20220619010658/https://www.fda.gov/medical-devices/safety-communications/update-fda-warns-biotin-may-interfere-lab-tests-fda-safety-communication
- Lacouture et al., prevention and management of dermatological toxicities related to anticancer agents: ESMO Clinical Practice Guidelines (Annals of Oncology 2021): https://doi.org/10.1016/j.annonc.2020.11.005

## Connected records

- fronts: [Diet, Exercise & Lifestyle](https://onco.cc/fronts/nutrition-lifestyle/), [Recovery & Rejuvenation](https://onco.cc/fronts/rejuvenation/), [Supportive Care & Survivorship](https://onco.cc/fronts/supportive-care/)
- technologies: [Dietary supplements during cancer treatment: interactions and harms](https://onco.cc/technologies/dietary-supplements-treatment-interactions/), [Minoxidil for persistent chemotherapy- and endocrine-therapy hair loss](https://onco.cc/technologies/minoxidil-chemotherapy-alopecia/)
- terms: [Endocrine-therapy-induced alopecia](https://onco.cc/terms/alopecia-endocrine-therapy/), [Persistent chemotherapy-induced alopecia](https://onco.cc/terms/alopecia-persistent-chemotherapy/)
- bottlenecks: [Misinformation and unproven therapies](https://onco.cc/bottlenecks/b-misinformation/), [Toxicity and quality of life are undervalued](https://onco.cc/bottlenecks/b-toxicity-qol/)

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