Mobile UPI  |   About UPI  |   UPI en Español  |   UPI Arabic  |   UPIU  |   My Account
Search:
Go

Laser therapy can worsen skin cancer

|
|
 
  
Published: Nov. 24, 2009 at 5:33 PM
Advertisement

BERGEN, Norway, Nov. 24 (UPI) -- Low-level laser therapy, used in sports medicine, hair-loss treatment and skin care, can aggravate skin cancer, Norwegian and Brazilian scientists say.

Professor Jan Bjordal of Bergen University College in Norway, working with a team of Brazilian researchers, studied the pain relieving, anti-inflammatory 'cold laser,' finding it caused increased tumor growth in a mouse model of skin cancer.

The scientists said laser therapy was developed in the 1970s, and has been marketed as a treatment for hair-loss, pain management, sports medicine and skin care. They noted home-treatment sets can be purchased online for unsupervised use.

Bjordal said low-level laser therapy has gained popularity as a treatment for soft tissue injuries and joint conditions.

"However, there is a shortage of evidence, especially in vivo evidence, about the effects of (such laser therapy) in malignant conditions such as melanoma," he said.

Bjordal said he and his colleagues applied the low-level laser therapy to cancer cultures and to mice injected with melanoma cells. Although the treatment didn't cause any significant changes in the cell cultures, direct irradiation of the tumor with high-dose low-level laser therapy caused a significant increase in tumor mass volume and considerable cellular alterations, indicating a worsening of the cancer in the mice.

The findings of the study are to appear in the journal BMC Cancer.

© 2009 United Press International, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Any reproduction, republication, redistribution and/or modification of any UPI content is expressly prohibited without UPI's prior written consent.

Order reprints
  
Join the conversation
Most Popular Collections
Oscar nominations 2012 High Fashion in Paris 2011: The year in space
Additional Science News Stories
1 of 15
Rose McGowan at The Heart Truth's Red Dress Fall 2012 Collections at Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week In New York
View Caption
fark
NJ DOT committee presents recommendations on ways to reduce train-related deaths. #1: Stop getting...
Another amenity your car is missing: A wood burning stove. Talk to this guy about getting that set...
If you think doing your taxes by yourself is confusing, try getting them done at a tax business...
Photoshop this night on the town
Rhinoceros accidentally killed by conservationists during anti-poaching demo
Researchers develop way to scan liquids that may allow travelers to carry on enough vodka to relieve...