Red Light Therapy for Radiation Ulcer: Scientific Evidence

Complete wound closure followed low-intensity laser therapy in all 3 patients with hard-to-heal radiation ulcers in a 2000 clinical trial. The patients, who had previously undergone breast-removal surgery for breast cancer, received a 30 mW helium-neon (HeNe) laser emitting red light at 632.8 nm, delivering an irradiance of 3 mW/cm² and a fluence of 30 J/cm² to the skin, 3 times per week for 5 to 8 weeks. According to the study, all 3 wounds fully closed within 5 to 8 weeks of starting treatment. One patient died 6 weeks after treatment from a cancer-related wasting condition unrelated to the ulcer, and the remaining 2 patients showed no return of the ulcer or the underlying cancer over 36 months of follow-up.

7 patients with breast inflammation or a skin ulcer following radiation treatment took part in a 2000 clinical trial testing low-level laser therapy (LLLT) for radiation-related skin injury. 6 women with breast inflammation and 1 man with a radiation ulcer received a diode laser emitting 780 nm red light to the breast and affected skin, at a fluence of 5 J/cm², over a mean of 25 sessions per patient (range 19 to 35) across 4 to 6 weeks. Detailed imaging scans taken after treatment appeared to show markedly less of the signal associated with inflammation in the treated area, and all 7 patients fully recovered from the treated skin problems.

A 28-year-old woman with a long-standing radiation ulcer on the left side of the neck took part in a 1999 clinical trial testing low-intensity laser therapy (LLLT). She received a helium-neon (HeNe) laser emitting red light at 632.8 nm, at a fluence of 30 J/cm² and 10 mW power output, applied twice weekly for 4 weeks. Researchers reported a statistically significant increase in the number of small blood vessels in the skin at both the center and edges of the ulcer after treatment, and the ulcer went on to heal completely.