Jolien Robijns

Hasselt University · Faculty of Medicine and Life Sciences

We performed a systematic review of the current literature addressing the safety and efficacy of photobiomodulation therapy (PBMT) in cancer patients. In this systematic review, the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines were used. In vitro, in vivo, and clinical studies, which investigated the effect...

Objective: Acute radiodermatitis (RD) is a distressing and painful skin reaction that occurs in 95% of the patients undergoing radiotherapy (RT). The aim of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of photobiomodulation therapy (PBMT) in the prevention of acute RD in breast cancer (BC) patients undergoing RT. Methods: This study was a random...

Abstract Purpose The purpose of this study was to evaluate objectively the effectiveness of photobiomodulation therapy (PBMT) for the prevention of acute radiation dermatitis (ARD) by using biophysical skin measurements. Methods A randomized, placebo-controlled trial with 120 breast cancer patients who underwent an identical radiotherapy (RT) reg...

Purpose of review The number of clinical trials on the use of photobiomodulation therapy (PBMT) for the management of cancer therapy-related complications is growing steadily. One of the side-effects that is under investigation is acute radiodermatitis (ARD), an inflammatory skin reaction caused by radiotherapy. In this review, an overview is given...

Objective: A narrative review of the available scientific evidence to identify the current proposals relating the use of photobiomodulation (PBM) to treat acute radiodermatitis (ARD), to guide future research. Background data: A devastating side effect of radiotherapy (RT) is ARD, defined as an inflammatory skin reaction induced by RT. Currently,...

In 2020, almost 9 million women were diagnosed with cancer worldwide. Despite advancements in cancer treatment strategies, patients still suffer from acute and long-term side effects. This systematic review aims to evaluate the most frequently reported adverse effects in the genitourinary system and compare them across cancer types, treatment modal...

Purpose To investigate the efficacy of a novel, multi-active emollient in preventing and managing acute radiation dermatitis (ARD) in breast cancer patients undergoing moderate hypofractionated (HF) radiotherapy (RT) compared to standard of care. Methodsa A monocentric, open-label, randomized clinical trial (RCT) with breast cancer patients receiv...

Purpose To investigate the efficacy of a novel, multi-active emollient in preventing and managing acute radiation dermatitis (ARD) in breast cancer patients undergoing moderate hypofractionated (HF) radiotherapy (RT) compared to standard of care. Methods A monocentric, open-label, randomized clinical trial (RCT) with breast cancer patients receivin...

Purpose The purpose of this trial was to evaluate if photobiomodulation (PBM) can accelerate hair regrowth after chemotherapy in breast cancer patients and if this is correlated with a better quality of life (QoL). Methods A randomized controlled trial with breast cancer patients that underwent an anthracycline and taxane-containing chemotherapy r...

Acute radiation dermatitis is a frequent adverse effect of radiotherapy, but standardisation of care for acute radiation dermatitis is lacking. Due to the conflicting evidence and variability in current guidelines, a four-round Delphi consensus process was used to compile opinions of 42 international experts on care for people with acute radiation...

Purpose This systematic review and meta-analysis aimed to evaluate the efficacy of barrier films and dressings in preventing acute radiation dermatitis (RD). Methods OVID Medline, Embase, and Cochrane databases were searched from 1946 to September 2020 to identify randomized controlled trials on the use of barrier films or dressings to prevent RD....

Purpose: This systematic review and meta-analysis aimed to evaluate the available literature describing the efficacy of natural and miscellaneous agents in preventing acute radiation dermatitis (RD) in cancer patients. Methods: OVID MedLine, Embase, and Cochrane literature databases were searched from 1946 to January 2023 for randomized controll...

Purpose Evaluate the efficacy of a novel skincare product for the management of chemotherapy-related dermatological toxicities. Methods A monocentric, prospective, interventional, open-label, pretest-posttest, single-group study with cancer patients receiving chemotherapy (n = 100) was set up. All enrolled patients applied the emollient daily to t...

Objectives: The evidence demonstrating the efficacy of photobiomodulation (PBM) therapy for preventing and managing acute radiation dermatitis (ARD) is growing steadily. The question that arises from many clinicians is, if PBM is safe for oncologic patients. This study aimed to evaluate the disease-free survival (DFS), cancer-free survival (CFS),...

Disclaimer This article is based on recommendations from the 12th WALT Congress, Nice, October 3-6, 2018, and a follow-up review of the existing data and the clinical observations of an international multidisciplinary panel of clinicians and researchers with expertise in the area of supportive care in cancer and/or PBM clinical application and dosi...

Purpose The purpose of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of photobiomodulation (PBM) therapy for the prevention of chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy (CIPN) in breast cancer patients. Methods A prospective, randomized placebo-controlled pilot trial (NEUROLASER) was set up with 32 breast cancer patients who underwent chemother...

Objective: Acute radiation dermatitis (ARD) is a frequent adverse effect in patients with cancer undergoing radiotherapy (RT). The aim of this case series is to evaluate the effect of a novel skin barrier protectant in patients with ARD. Methods: The skin barrier protectant was used in four patients with different cancer types undergoing RT at t...

The objective of this retrospective analysis was to determine the incidence and extent of vaginal mucositis (VM) in women with gynaecological cancer undergoing external (chemo)radiation therapy (CRT). A retrospective analysis was set up to collect data on the incidence and severity of VM in women treated with external pelvic RT for gynaecological c...

Objectives To evaluate the efficacy of photobiomodulation therapy in breast cancer patients post-lumpectomy undergoing hypofractionated whole-breast irradiation (HF-WBI) for the prevention and management of acute radiodermatitis (ARD). Materials and Methods A randomized, multicentric clinical trial (LABRA trial, NCT03924011) was set up at the Limb...

Background and purpose The purpose of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of photobiomodulation therapy (PBMT) for the prevention of acute radiation dermatitis (ARD) in head and neck cancer (HNC) patients. Materials and Methods A randomised, placebo-controlled trial (RCT) with 46 HNC patients who underwent radiotherapy (RT) with or wit...

OBJECTIVE To evaluate the use of a novel skin barrier protectant in a patient treated with radiotherapy for vulvar cancer. METHODS This case report was conducted in a radiotherapy department with two women undergoing radiotherapy for vulvar carcinoma. A novel skin barrier protectant was evaluated in one patient; the other underwent the institu...

Background: Chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy (CIPN) is a common side effect of chemotherapy (CT), affecting 68% of patients. Current treatment strategies are based on pharmacological symptom management, but have limited results. Photobiomodulation therapy (PBMT) is a new and emerging therapeutic tool in the supportive care of cancer patie...

Objective: We evaluated the role of photobiomodulation (PBM) in radiation fibrosis syndrome (RFS). Background: Radiation therapy (RT) is an important treatment utilized in over half of newly diagnosed cancers. Despite its benefits, patients treated with RT may experience acute and chronic significant side effects depending on both treatment- and p...

The aim of this Letter to the Editor was to report some methodological shortcomings in the recently published article "Application of red light phototherapy in the treatment of radioactive dermatitis in patients with head and neck cancer" by Zhang et al. There are some issues regarding the incomplete photobiomodulation (PBM) parameters, the chosen...

radiodermatitis; photobiomodulation; cancer; breast cancer; low-level light therapy

Introduction Acute radiodermatitis (ARD) occurs in up to 95% of the patients undergoing radiotherapy (RT). No general consensus on the prevention and management of ARD is currently available. Objectives To investigate the efficacy of photobiomodulation therapy (PBMT) in the prevention of ARD in breast cancer patients undergoing RT. Methods Arando...

Purpose Acute radiodermatitis (RD) occurs in about 95% of the patients undergoing radiotherapy (RT) as part of their cancer treatment. We studied the benefit of photobiomodulation therapy (PBMT) in the prevention of acute RD in breast cancer patients undergoing RT. Patients and Method Between April 2015 and June 2017, 120 breast cancer patients...

Strahlendermatitis (SD) ist eine entzündliche Hauterkrankung, die als ungewollte Nebenwirkung der medizinischen Strahlentherapie (ST) auftreten kann, am häufigsten bei Patienten, die im Rahmen einer Krebserkrankung der HNO- bzw. Anal- und Vulvaregion behandelt werden. Die Nebenwirkungen an der Haut und Schleimhaut treten innerhalb von wenigen Woche...

Radiodermatitis (RD) is a cutaneous reaction that occurs as a side-effect of radiotherapy during cancer treatment or sometimes after interventional radiology. There are two forms of RD depending on the time the skin reaction occurs. Acute skin reactions develop a few hours to weeks after the first exposure to radiation, whereas chronic RD can devel...

Radiation dermatitis (RD), an inflammatory skin disease that can be an unwanted side effect of medical radiation therapy (RT), most commonly occurs in patients undergoing cancer of the ENT, anal, and vulvar regions. The side effects on the skin and mucous membranes occur within a few weeks after the initiation of RT; however, late side effects can...

radiation dermatitis; photobiomodulation therapy; low-level light therapy; cancer; oncology; radiotherapy

Photobiomodulation therapy is based on the application of visible and/or (near-)infrared light on the target tissue. We performed a review of 34 articles on the use of photobiomodulation therapy in the management of cancer related lymphoedema, oral mucositis, radiodermatitis, chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy, osteonecrosis of the jaw, and...

Background: Photobiomodulation therapy (PBMT) is a standard therapy for oral mucositis (OM) in head and neck cancer, but for other cancer types the research is limited. The aim is to evaluate the effectiveness of PBMT in the management of OM in cancer patients other than head and neck cancer in a single center cancer unit. Study: Two retrospective...

Breast cancer is the most common cancer in women worldwide, with an incidence of 1.7 million in 2012. Breast cancer and its treatments can bring along serious side effects such as fatigue, skin toxicity, lymphedema, pain, nausea, etc. These can substantially affect the patients’ quality of life. Therefore, supportive care for breast cancer patients...

Background: The aim of our study was to investigate the efficacy of photobiomodulation therapy (PBMT) for the prevention of radiodermatitis (RD) in breast cancer patients. Methods: This is a randomized controlled, patient-blinded study with breast cancer patients that underwent an identical radiotherapy (RT) regime post-lumpectomy. A total of 57 pa...

photobiomodulation; HPLT; LLLT

Purpose The aim of this study was to assess the effectiveness and acceptability of photobiomodulation using MLS® laser therapy (LT) in the management of acute radiation dermatitis (RD). Methods We compared two successive groups of breast cancer patients undergoing identical radiotherapy regimens post-lumpectomy. Both groups received our standard sk...

Introduction Radiodermatitis (RD) is a common and distressing side effect of radiotherapy. Objective Investigate the efficacy of low-level laser therapy (LLLT) as a treatment for RD in breast cancer patients. Methods For this prospective study two successive groups of breast cancer patients undergoing identical radiotherapy regime post-lumpectomy...

Abstract published in Annals of Oncology 2014;25(suppl 4):iv534-iv534