Abstract: Objecetive: To investigate the perception and experience of patients with breast cancer on chemotherapy-induced alopecia. Methods: Totally 18 breast cancer patients were offered semi-structured and indepth interviews, repectively, and data collected was then analyzed using Colaizzi's methods. Results: Four themes were extracted, including a lack of the perception about alopecia, psychological and spiritual burden, coping strategies of alopecia and personal growth. Conclusion: Medical staff should enhance patient educationon chemotherapy-induced alopecia, promote knowledge popularization and information acquisition among patients with alopecia so as to help with their effective responding to alopecia and relieve them both physically and mentally. In addition, communication between patients and nursing staff should also be conducted during intervals between chemotherapies, as well asestablishing impactful and targeted pre- and post-hospital interventions, which also deserves further exploration.

Key words: breast cancer; chemotherapy-induced alopecia; qualitative research