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Red and near-infrared light from a cap, comb or in-clinic device, sold for hair growth and tested twice in breast cancer. Adding it to scalp cooling did not improve on scalp cooling alone, and a separate caution applies to shining light at tissue where a tumour may be.
Photobiomodulation delivers non-thermal red or near-infrared light to stimulate mitochondrial activity in the tissue beneath. It has strong evidence in oncology for one thing, oral mucositis, where the MASCC and ISOO guidelines recommend it with specified parameters. Hair is a different question, and the two randomised trials in breast cancer come to different-looking conclusions for different reasons.
The HAIRLASER trial (Lodewijckx et al., Supportive Care in Cancer 2023) randomised 32 women who had finished anthracycline and taxane chemotherapy to photobiomodulation three times a week for twelve weeks or to no intervention, and reported higher patient-rated hair scores in the treated group one month after chemotherapy. The control arm received nothing at all, with no sham device, so expectation is not separated from effect. The second trial (Claes et al., Lasers in Medical Science 2025) asked the question that matters for prevention: 29 patients on taxane-based chemotherapy received either photobiomodulation plus scalp cooling or scalp cooling alone. Scalp coverage and hair thickness did not differ between the groups, and the authors concluded that adding light did not increase the efficacy of cooling, although quality-of-life scores were higher in the group that received it.
The safety point is worth stating because it is specific to cancer and absent from the marketing. The MASCC and ISOO mucositis guideline, which recommends photobiomodulation for the mouth, also records that animal data on how light affects tumour behaviour are conflicting and advises clinicians to inform patients of expected benefits and potential risks before treating a region where a tumour is or may be. For the scalp that matters most to people treated for a brain tumour, a scalp cancer or a cancer that can spread to the scalp. The grade is insufficient: two small trials, one without a sham arm and one showing no addition to cooling.
Red and near-infrared photons are absorbed by cytochrome c oxidase in mitochondria, raising ATP production and altering reactive oxygen species and nitric oxide signalling; in hair the proposal is that this pushes resting follicles back into the growth phase.
Query for this technology: (TITLE:"Low-level light therapy photobiomodulation for hair" OR ABSTRACT:"Low-level light therapy photobiomodulation for hair") AND (cancer OR tumor OR tumour OR oncology OR carcinoma OR lymphoma OR leukemia OR leukaemia OR myeloma OR sarcoma OR melanoma OR glioma). Results are unfiltered search hits about Low-level light therapy (photobiomodulation) for hair, not a curated reading list.
Shares Anagen effluvium (chemotherapy hair loss), Minoxidil for persistent chemotherapy- and endocrine-therapy hair loss, Scalp cooling (cold caps: DigniCap, Paxman), Toxicity and quality of life are undervalued and the tags complementary, supportive-care, hair-loss.
Shares Persistent chemotherapy-induced alopecia, Minoxidil for persistent chemotherapy- and endocrine-therapy hair loss, Toxicity and quality of life are undervalued and the tags complementary, supportive-care, hair-loss.
Shares Persistent chemotherapy-induced alopecia, Minoxidil for persistent chemotherapy- and endocrine-therapy hair loss, Toxicity and quality of life are undervalued and the tags complementary, supportive-care, hair-loss.
Shares Persistent chemotherapy-induced alopecia, Minoxidil for persistent chemotherapy- and endocrine-therapy hair loss, Toxicity and quality of life are undervalued and the tags complementary, supportive-care, hair-loss.
Shares Persistent chemotherapy-induced alopecia, Minoxidil for persistent chemotherapy- and endocrine-therapy hair loss, Toxicity and quality of life are undervalued and the tags complementary, supportive-care, hair-loss.
Shares Anagen effluvium (chemotherapy hair loss), Scalp cooling (cold caps: DigniCap, Paxman), Toxicity and quality of life are undervalued and the tags complementary, supportive-care, hair-loss.
Shares Photobiomodulation (low-level laser) for oral mucositis, Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer, Toxicity and quality of life are undervalued and the tags complementary, supportive-care.
Shares Photobiomodulation (low-level laser) for oral mucositis, Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer, Scalp cooling (cold caps: DigniCap, Paxman), Toxicity and quality of life are undervalued and the tags complementary, supportive-care.