Light therapy fast-tracks healing of skin damage from cancer radiation therapy
Source: www.buffalo.edu Author: Marcene Robinson Light therapy may accelerate the healing of skin damage from radiation therapy by up to 50%, according to a recent UB-led study. The research found that photobiomodulation — a form of low-dose light therapy — lowered the severity of skin damage from radionecrosis (the breakdown of body tissue after radiation therapy), reduced inflammation, improved blood flow and helped wounds heal up to 19 days faster. The findings, published Dec. 28 in Photonics, follow prior reports on the effectiveness of light therapy in improving the healing of burn wounds and in relieving pain from oral mucositis caused by radiation and chemotherapy. The research was led by Rodrigo Mosca, visiting fellow from the Nuclear and Energy Research Institute (IPEN) and the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, both in Brazil. Carlos Zeituni, professor at IPEN and the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, is a senior author. “To our knowledge, this is the first report on the successful use of photobiomodulation therapy for brachytherapy,” says senior author Praveen Arany, assistant professor of oral biology, UB School of Dental Medicine. “The results from this study support the progression to controlled human clinical studies to utilize this innovative therapy in managing the side effects from radiation cancer treatments.” Brachytherapy is a form of radiation therapy where a radiation source is implanted within the cancer tissue, exposing surrounding healthy tissue to lower doses of radiation than through teletherapy, a form that fires a beam of radiation through the skin to [...]