Twenty-year analysis of photobiomodulation clinical studies for oral mucositis: a scoping review

Elisa Kauark-Fontes; Cesar Augusto Migliorati; Joel B Epstein; Rene-Jean Bensadoun; Luiz Alcino Monteiro Gueiros; James Carroll; Luciana Maria Pedreira Ramalho; Alan Roger Santos-Silva

doi:10.1016/j.oooo.2022.12.010

Twenty-year analysis of photobiomodulation clinical studies for oral mucositis: a scoping review

Oral Surg Oral Med Oral Pathol Oral Radiol. 2023 May;135(5):626-641. doi: 10.1016/j.oooo.2022.12.010. Epub 2022 Dec 28.

Authors

Elisa Kauark-Fontes¹, Cesar Augusto Migliorati², Joel B Epstein³, Rene-Jean Bensadoun⁴, Luiz Alcino Monteiro Gueiros⁵, James Carroll⁶, Luciana Maria Pedreira Ramalho¹, Alan Roger Santos-Silva⁷

Affiliations

¹ Department of Propaedeutic and Integrated Clinic, Universidade Federal da Bahia (UFBA), Salvador, Bahia, Brazil.
² College of Dentistry, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, USA.
³ Cedars-Sinai Health System, Los Angeles, CA, USA; Dental Oncology Services, Department of Surgery, City of Hope Medical Center, Duarte, CA, USA.
⁴ Centre de Haute Energie (CHE), 06000, Nice, Nice, France.
⁵ Clinical and Preventive Dentistry Department, Universidade Federal de Pernambuco, Recife, SP, Brazil.
⁶ THOR Photomedicine Ltd, Chesham, Buckinghamshire, UK.
⁷ Oral Diagnosis Department, Piracicaba Dental School, University of Campinas (UNICAMP), Piracicaba, São Paulo, Brazil. Electronic address: Alan@unicamp.br.

PMID: 36870898
DOI: 10.1016/j.oooo.2022.12.010

Abstract

Objective: Our objective was to review the first 20 years of photobiomodulation (PBM) clinical studies for oral mucositis (OM) mitigation.

Study design: A scoping review screened controlled clinical studies. The PBM devices, protocols, and clinical outcomes were analyzed.

Results: Seventy-five studies met the inclusion criteria. The first study dated from 1992, and the term "PBM" was first published in 2017. Public services, placebo-controlled randomized trials, and patients with head and neck chemoradiation were predominant among included studies. Prophylactic red intraoral laser protocols were mostly used. Comparing the outcomes of all protocols was unfeasible due to missing treatment parameters and nonhomogeneous measurements.

Conclusions: The main barrier to optimizing clinical protocols of PBM for OM was the lack of standardization in clinical studies. Although PBM use is now globally present in oncology settings and generally marked by good outcomes reported, additional randomized clinical trials with well-described methods are necessary.

Publication types

Review
Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Chemoradiotherapy
Humans
Light
Low-Level Light Therapy* / methods
Stomatitis* / prevention & control
Stomatitis* / radiotherapy