Purpose:

The study aims to investigate the efficacy/acceptance of photobiomodulation by a quick and easy-to-use device for both preventing oral mucositis (OM) and reducing its severity in the setting of hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HCT).

Methods:

: Twenty-five consecutive patients underwent autologous HCT for hematological malignancies between November 2020 and October 2021. Prophylactic photobiomodulation (PBM) was used daily from day 1 of conditioning until the day of neutrophil recovery at a dose of 3 J/cm 2 . Curative PBM was started at a dose of 6 J/cm 2 when at least one grade 1 OM had occurred. For each OM case, time of onset, National Cancer Institute-Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events (NCI-CTCAE) v5.0 grade for OM, analgesic dose, and time to resolution were reported.

Results:

: The median age of the 25 patients was 58 years (range, 39-74) and 14 (56%) were male. Twenty-one patients (84%) received a high dose melphalan conditioning regimen for multiple myeloma, and 4 (16%) patients received BEAM conditioning for aggressive lymphoma. A total of 178 CareMin650 sessions were performed, with a median of 7 days of application (range, 4-12), with no device-related adverse events (AEs). According to the NCI-CTCAE v5.0 scale, 76% (19 of 25) of patients presented grade 0 or 1 mucositis (no ulcers), five patients (20%) developed small ulcers (grade 2), and only one patient developed grade 4 mucositis. Satisfaction rates were high among patients and users.

Conclusion:

Photobiomodulation provides excellent safety and tolerance, as well as promising efficacy, both as a preventive and curative strategy, in patients undergoing autologous HCT.