Laser and light-based therapy for cutaneous and soft-tissue metastases of malignant melanoma: a systematic review.
Invasive cutaneous melanoma is a growing health concern. Although surgical excision can effectively treat in situ tumors, use for metastatic melanoma is limited. Laser and light-based therapies may be a valuable palliative treatment option for patients with stage III and stage IV cutaneous metastatic melanoma. Our goal is to review the published literature and provide evidence-based recommendations on laser and light-based palliative therapies for metastatic melanoma. A search of the databases Pubmed, EMBASE, Web of Science, and CINAHL was performed on March 10, 2016. Key search terms were related to melanoma, laser, and light-based modalities. Our search initially identified 13,923 articles and 27 original articles met inclusion criteria for our review. Grade of recommendation: C for non-fractionated carbon dioxide laser, Grade of recommendation: D for fractionated carbon dioxide laser, ruby laser, neodymium laser, near-infrared diode laser, and photodynamic therapy. Non-fractionated carbon dioxide laser had the best palliative efficacy of the reviewed laser and light-based therapies, while other treatment modalities may have potential as adjunctive therapy to standard of care.
Department of Dermatology, University of California at Davis, 3301C Street Suite #1400, Sacramento, California, 95816, USA.|Dermatology Service, Sacramento VA Medical Center, Mather, CA, USA.
Evan
E
Austin
Department of Dermatology, University of California at Davis, 3301C Street Suite #1400, Sacramento, California, 95816, USA.|Dermatology Service, Sacramento VA Medical Center, Mather, CA, USA.
Andrew
A
Mamalis
Department of Dermatology, University of California at Davis, 3301C Street Suite #1400, Sacramento, California, 95816, USA.|Dermatology Service, Sacramento VA Medical Center, Mather, CA, USA.
Derek
D
Ho
Department of Dermatology, University of California at Davis, 3301C Street Suite #1400, Sacramento, California, 95816, USA. jrjagdeo@gmail.com.|Dermatology Service, Sacramento VA Medical Center, Mather, CA, USA. jrjagdeo@gmail.com.|Department of Dermatology, Downstate Medical Center, State University of New York, Brooklyn, NY, USA. jrjagdeo@gmail.com.
Jared
J
Jagdeo
D003131:Combined Modality Therapy; D006801:Humans; D053685:Laser Therapy; D054020:Lasers, Gas; D008545:Melanoma / Q000473:pathology / Q000628:therapy*; D010166:Palliative Care; D010789:Phototherapy; D012878:Skin Neoplasms; D012983:Soft Tissue Neoplasms / Q000556:secondary / Q000628:therapy*; D000096142:Cutaneous Malignant Melanoma
Laser; Melanoma; Palliative care; Photodynamic therapy; Phototherapy; Quality-of-life