Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Clinical Trial
. 2017 Aug:71:11-15.
doi: 10.1016/j.oraloncology.2017.05.018. Epub 2017 Jun 3.

Long-term survival of a randomized phase III trial of head and neck cancer patients receiving concurrent chemoradiation therapy with or without low-level laser therapy (LLLT) to prevent oral mucositis

Héliton S Antunes  1 , Daniel Herchenhorn  2 , Isabele A Small  3 , Carlos M M Araújo  4 , Celia Maria Pais Viégas  4 , Gabriela de Assis Ramos  3 , Fernando L Dias  5 , Carlos G Ferreira  6
Affiliations
Clinical Trial

Long-term survival of a randomized phase III trial of head and neck cancer patients receiving concurrent chemoradiation therapy with or without low-level laser therapy (LLLT) to prevent oral mucositis

Héliton S Antunes et al. Oral Oncol. 2017 Aug.

Abstract

Background: The impact of low-level laser therapy (LLLT) to prevent oral mucositis in patients treated with exclusive chemoradiation therapy remains unknown. This study evaluated the overall, disease-free and progression-free survival of these patients.

Methods: Overall, disease-free and progression-free survival of 94 patients diagnosed with oropharynx, nasopharynx, and hypopharynx cancer, who participated on a phase III study, was evaluated from 2007 to 2015. The patients were subjected to conventional radiotherapy plus cisplatin every 3weeks. LLLT was applied with an InGaAlP diode (660nm-100mW-1J-4J/cm2).

Results: With a median follow-up of 41.3months (range 0.7-101.9), patients receiving LLLT had a statistically significant better complete response to treatment than those in the placebo group (LG=89.1%; PG=67.4%; p=0.013). Patients subjected to LLLT also displayed increase in progression-free survival than those in the placebo group (61.7% vs. 40.4%; p=0.030; HR:1:93; CI 95%: 1.07-3.5) and had a tendency for better overall survival (57.4% vs. 40.4%; p=0.90; HR:1.64; CI 95%: 0.92-2.91).

Conclusion: This is the first study to suggest that LLLT may improve survival of head and neck cancer patients treated with chemoradiotherapy. Further studies, with a larger sample, are necessary to confirm our findings.

Keywords: Chemotherapy; Disease-free survival; Head and neck cancer; Low-level laser therapy; Oral mucositis; Overall survival; Progression-free survival; Radiotherapy.

PubMed Disclaimer

Publication types