Light-emitting diode therapy for the prevention and treatment of radiodermatitis in women with breast cancer: systematic review

Breast cancer, the most common cancer worldwide, is treated with surgery, chemotherapy, and radiotherapy. Radiotherapy reduces recurrence and mortality but causes radiodermatitis in over 90% of patients. Current preventive and topical treatments have limited efficacy. Photobiomodulation therapy shows promise for preventing and treating radiodermatitis, but the evidence is limited and controversial. This article aims to systematically review the efficacy of LED therapy in preventing and treating radiodermatitis in women with breast cancer undergoing radiotherapy. This systematic review adheres to PRISMA guidelines, registered in PROSPERO (CRD42023467705), and searches databases (PubMed, Scopus, Cochrane, etc.) for randomized controlled trials (RCTs) and non-randomized trials from 2000 to July 2025. The inclusion criteria targeted human trials of LED therapy for radiodermatitis in breast cancer patients. Study quality was assessed using RoB 2 and ROBINS-I tools. From 882 articles, six studies (three RCTs, three non-randomized; 233 participants) were included. Four studies demonstrated that LED therapy reduced radiodermatitis severity (e.g., 94.7% Grade 0–1 in the LED group vs. 14.3% in the control group; p < 0.0001) and treatment interruptions. Three studies reported faster healing and pain reduction in acute radiodermatitis, but chronic radiodermatitis showed no improvement. One study found no significant benefit (p > 0.05). Study quality varied, with two RCTs rated low risk and one high risk. LED therapy shows promise for managing acute radiodermatitis but requires large-scale RCTs with standardized protocols to confirm efficacy, optimize parameters, assess chronic radiodermatitis, and evaluate cost-effectiveness for integration into clinical practice.