PBM Therapy Safety

• CANCER – the evidence so far shows
  • THERE IS NO EVIDENCE OF HARM FOR CANCER PATIENTS BEING TREATED WITH PBM THERAPY ACTUALLY THE EVIDENCE IS THE OPPOSITE (read below)
  • Even though there is no evidence contrary to the above statement, if you are having ACTIVE cancer treatment now with Chemotherapy or Radiotherapy we would advise you (as we consider it courteous and best practice) to let your Oncologist know you want to have PBM Therapy. If you are in ACTIVE cancer treatment, as part of our consultation paperwork we will ask you if you have informed the Oncologists/team that you are are starting PBM Therapy.
  • Despite an ever increasing evidence base to help counteract and prevent the side effects of Chemo/Radiotherapy (see pdf’s) very few cancer specialists (Oncologists, Haematologists, Surgeons, Doctors and Nurses) in our experience have ever heard of PBM Therapy (or its old name ‘LLLT or Low Level Laser Therapy’ – read this link why there has been a name change to PBM Therapy), if they have heard about it, even less understand the mechanisms of action and so benefits of PBM Therapy. So to make it easier for your consultant to see the evidence for themselves we have created 5 pdf’s below.
  • Simply send this web page url or show the consultant this short web link bit.ly/4fIqZtH to get to this page.
  • Alternatively download all of the 5 pdf’s below and email then to your consultant (or download and print them out!)

Evidence of PBM Therapy for Cancer Treatment Side Effects

• • PBM therapy is an increasingly accepted treatment for the side effects of Chemotherapy and Radiotherapy – Oral Mucositis – which is a severe ulcerating inflammation of the mucous membranes of the mouth (it can also effect the intestines, bowels and vagina) which occurs as a direct consequence of having Chemotherapy/Radiotherapy treatment for active cancer. In the PDF immediately below PBM Therapy is also referred to by its old name ‘LLLT or Low Level Laser Therapy’ – the two names are interchangeable) and has NHS approval for Oral Mucositis. The PDF has the NHS web page URL in it along with the NICE recommendations.

• • The PDF immediately below contains many published research articles demonstrating the routine use of PBM Therapy (LLLT or Low Level Laser Therapy) for Oral Mucositis

• • The PDF immediately below is Random Controlled Trial (RCT) evidence of the safety of PBM Therapy in Cancers. We are aware of one Level III Random Controlled Trial (RCT) showing that PBM Therapy may help improve survival rate from Cancer* in the long term.

• • A review of the all the literature relating to the safety/efficacy of PBM Therapy and cancer was carried out by Professor Michael Hamblin et al. The conclusion was “PBM Therapy may have benefits in cancer patients and should be further investigated”.

• • PBM Therapy for Lymphodema after breast surgery is routinely performed by oncology nurses at and around the site of cancer surgery. The PDF immediately below contains many published research articles demonstrating the routine use of PBM Therapy (LLLT or Low Level Laser Therapy) whilst patients are under the care of a specialist oncologists/nurses.

PBM Therapy and Cancer Treatment

So far the evidence shows PBM Therapy is safe and effective in treating the side effects of Chemo and Radiotherapy for cancers but there is emerging very very early anecdotal evidence that perhaps it may have the potential to play a beneficial role in the treatment. How much (if any) has been far from established but the information below could be taken at the very least as more weight that PBM Therapy is safe in cancer patients.

• • Research into whether PBM Therapy could improve cancer patients survivability/kill cancer cells is still very much in its infancy and much more research is needed to give any definite answers. Of interest in this video interview Professor of Biology, Genetics and Biochemistry, Thomas Seyfried, outlines how poorly functioning Mitochondria ATP pathways switch to alternative ‘fermentation energy pathways’ and thereby, according to Prof Seyfried’s research stimulates cancer cell growth. So, perhaps, by enhancing/improving the functioning Mitochondria ATP pathways (which PBM does) could then PBM Therapy potentially be a mechanism to help prevent/slow cancer cell growth? Might this go to explain the better survival rate in the RCT* finding in the above study? Again with so many variables much more research is needed before we can say if PBM could/might provide an extra treatment benefit in cancer patients.
  • Published in the journal Nature Chemistry is a very interesting single animal study that has shown that NIR – Near Infra Red light (which is one of the wavelengths used in PBM Therapy) bursts and kills melanoma cancer cells when its applied to them via a ‘molecular jack hammer method‘. Again much more research is needed before we can say if PBM could/might be an extra treatment benefit in cancer patients. Historically the father of PBM Therapy Professor Endre Mester in 1967 used a ruby red laser (the other wavelengths of light used in PBM Therapy) on shaved mice to try and cause skin cancer. He actually found this did not happen, unexpectedly to him the shaved mice’s hair grew back faster without cancer than the control mice who did not have the ruby red laser! The biochemical mechanisms of how PBM works to achieve this benefit and other many other positive outcomes have now been rigorously investigated and established.

PBM Therapy using our NovoTHOR® pod is safe to use with

• New joint replacements e.g. hips, knees, spinal fusion operations or metal implants
• Surgery in the past
• Body piercings and tattoos
• Breast augmentation or other cosmetic procedures
• Prescriptive medications and creams and over the counter medications from the pharmacist
• Skin conditions (see skin healing and repair)