Abstract
The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of laser phototherapy (LPT) in the prevention and/or treatment of oral mucositis induced by 5-fluorouracil (5-FU; Eurofarma, São Paulo, Brazil) in hamsters. Ninety-six hamsters were divided into four groups (n=24): Control (no treatment); Preventive [LPT from day (D) D-5 to D+5]; Therapeutic (LPT from D+5 to D+15); and Combined (preventive plus therapeutic LPT from D-5 to D+15). The animals received an intraperitoneal injection of 5-FU on Days 0 and 2. The pouch mucosa was scratched on Days 3 and 4. The irradiation parameters were: indium-gallium-aluminum-phosphide (InGaAlP) diode laser (MM Optics, São Carlos, Brazil) (660 nm), beam area of 0.036 cm2, 40 mW, 1.11 W/cm2, 6.6 J/cm2, power density applied daily of 39.6 J/cm2, in punctual mode (six points and six seconds per point) and contact mode, one application per day. The animals were sacrificed on Days 0, 5, 10 and 15 (n=6) and weighed, and the pouch mucosa was removed for histopathological analysis. Clinical and corresponding histological scores were compared using ANOVA and Tukey's test (p≤0.05). Similar weight losses ranging from 5% to 10% occurred in all groups. The therapeutic group had significantly lower clinical and histological scores than the other groups at Day 10. This study showed that positive effects on oral mucositis management were obtained only when LPT was applied in the therapeutic protocol (from D+5 to D+15 after chemotherapy).
Highlights
Oral mucositis is a complication resulting from radiotherapy and/or chemotherapy for cancer treatment.[1]
There were no significant differences in weight losses between the different experimental groups at the same evaluation times
The findings of the present study demonstrate the positive effect of laser phototherapy (LPT) in reducing the severity of mucositis when the therapeutic protocol was used
Summary
Oral mucositis is a complication resulting from radiotherapy and/or chemotherapy for cancer treatment.[1] Clinically, mucositis is graded in stages ranging from minimal symptoms of erythematous lesions to severe ulceration and pain, which may require the cancer treatment to be discontinued, thereby leading to a reduction in quality of life and/or patient survival.[1,2] severe mucositis may lead to prolonged hospital stays and requires special care, such as the intravenous infusion of barbiturates or other drugs and parenteral nutrition, leading to a significant increase in hospital costs.[2]. The most common types of treatment for oral mucositis are topical antimicrobial agents, cytokines to stimulate. Studies on the effects of LPT, either alone or in combination with other therapies, conducted in patients with immunosuppression, have shown that LPT promotes a reduction in pain intensity and mucositis severity, acceleration of wound healing, analgesic effects and an increase in the salivary flow rate, with no side effects.[3,4,7,8]
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