Clinical Evaluation of Intravascular Blood Irradiation with Laser, Photobiomodulation, and Photodynamic Therapy in Cancer Patients with Mucositis

Photobiomodul Photomed Laser Surg. 2021 Nov;39(11):687-695. doi: 10.1089/photob.2021.0031. Epub 2021 Oct 25.

Abstract

Objective: To assess the clinical application of intravascular laser irradiation of blood (ILIB), photodynamic therapy (PDT), and photobiomodulation therapy (PBM-T) in mucositis in cancer patients. Background: PBM-T and PDT are used for the management of oral mucositis (OM) and there are no studies associating intravascular laser irradiation of blood (ILIB) for this purpose. Materials and methods: Thirty-six patients were allocated by convenience into three groups according to the established therapy: PDT+PBM-T (n = 10); PDT+PBM-T+ILIB (n = 10), and ILIB (n = 16). PDT was performed with the photosensitizer curcumin and irradiation of the oral cavity with blue light-emitting diode (LED) (power 1200 mW and wavelength 468 nm). PBM-T was performed using low-intensity laser (power 100 mW, wavelength 660 nm, and spot energy 1 J) at 26 points of the oral cavity. ILIB was applied with a bracelet on the radial artery using the low-intensity laser (100 mW of power, 660 nm wavelength, and 30 J of total energy). All therapies were performed weekly for 5 weeks. The results of the OM degrees were analyzed using the Wilcoxon test. Results: There was a significant reduction in the degrees of OM after treatment with PDT+PBM-T (p = 0.0117), PDT+PBM-T+ILIB (p = 0.0277), and ILIB (p = 0.0277). Conclusions: It was concluded that ILIB, PDT, and PBM-T reduced the severity of mucositis and prevented its onset. Clinical Trial Registration number: RBR-54XS25.

Keywords: cancer; laser therapy; low-intensity light therapy; photochemotherapy; stomatitis.

MeSH terms

  • Humans
  • Lasers
  • Mucositis* / drug therapy
  • Mucositis* / etiology
  • Neoplasms* / complications
  • Neoplasms* / radiotherapy
  • Photochemotherapy*
  • Stomatitis* / drug therapy
  • Stomatitis* / etiology