Oral mucositis (OM) is a common side effect of radiation therapy for cancers, which has major consequences for the patient including severe pain, systemic infections, reduced nutritional intake, and adverse quality of life. The standard care currently available for OM is symptomatic, mainly directed towards pain remission (topical analgesics and parenteral drugs) and the prevention of secondary infection which have effect in the prevention and management of OM. Photobiomodulation therapy (PBMt) has been shown to stimulate tissue regeneration, reduce inflammation and control pain. The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has included PBMt as recommended therapy for preventing OM caused by radiotherapy or chemotherapy, and the Multinational-Association of Supportive Care in Cancer and the International Society for Oral Oncology (MASCC/ISOO) found the evidence for LLLT/PBMt in the prevention of OM in patients to be safe and potentially very effective.
A Quality Assurance study of the efficacy of pre-emptive PBMt to prevent/reduce severity of OM in radiotherapy patients was conducted at the San Hospital in Australia. Patients were given PBMt daily from before radiotherapy and throughout therapy, including home-treatment when the clinic could not be attended.
Results were clinically positive, with no patient in the study developing OM beyond level 1. One participant presented a unique opportunity to compare OM treatments and outcomes, as his twin brother suffered the same cancer and was treated with the same radiation therapy, but without PBMt, a number of years previously. Implications of the therapy will be discussed.
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