Effects of Photobiomodulation on Oral Mucositis: Visualization and Analysis of Knowledge

Impact of photobiomodulation for prevention of oral mucositis on the quality of life of patients with head and neck cancer: a systematic review

The aim of this study was to perform a systematic review to evaluate the impact of photobiomodulation therapy (PBMT) for the prevention of oral mucositis (OM) on the quality of life (QoL) of patients with head and neck cancer (HNC) undergoing radiation therapy. This study followed the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis guidelines. The search strategy was performed in five electronic databases (Cochrane, Embase, PubMed, Scopus, and Web of Science). The included studies assessed the QoL of patients undergoing radiation therapy (RT) for HNC and undergoing PBMT for the management of OM. Seven articles met the eligibility criteria. Data extraction was performed in the selected studies including the PBMT parameters (active medium, application procedure, wavelength, fluence, power, irradiance, irradiation time, spot size, energy per point, schedule of irradiation, and total energy). The included studies were qualitatively analyzed, and descriptive analyses were performed. Also, summary results were evaluated for group comparison analysis. All included studies confirmed a decrease in the QoL of the patients that developed OM throughout the RT progress when compared to baseline. Of the informed cases, most of the patients who received PBMT showed grades 1 and 2 OM, while the control group showed more individuals with severe forms of OM (grades 3 and 4). In this sense, patients submitted to PBMT reported better QoL at the end of the treatment compared with the control group. PBMT used for the management of OM preserves the QoL of patients with head and neck cancer.

Multimodal Data Integration to Predict Severe Acute Oral Mucositis of Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma Patients Following Radiation Therapy

(1) Background: Acute oral mucositis is the most common side effect for nasopharyngeal carcinoma patients receiving radiotherapy. Improper or delayed intervention to severe AOM could degrade the quality of life or survival for NPC patients. An effective prediction method for severe AOM is needed for the individualized management of NPC patients in the era of personalized medicine. (2) Methods: A total of 242 biopsy-proven NPC patients were retrospectively recruited in this study. Radiomics features were extracted from contrast-enhanced CT (CECT), contrast-enhanced T1-weighted (cT1WI), and T2-weighted (T2WI) images in the primary tumor and tumor-related area. Dosiomics features were extracted from 2D or 3D dose-volume histograms (DVH). Multiple models were established with single and integrated data. The dataset was randomized into training and test sets at a ratio of 7:3 with 10-fold cross-validation. (3) Results: The best-performing model using Gaussian Naive Bayes (GNB) (mean validation AUC = 0.81 ± 0.10) was established with integrated radiomics and dosiomics data. The GNB radiomics and dosiomics models yielded mean validation AUC of 0.6 ± 0.20 and 0.69 ± 0.14, respectively. (4) Conclusions: Integrating radiomics and dosiomics data from the primary tumor area could generate the best-performing model for severe AOM prediction.

Global Trends and Future Research Directions for Temporomandibular Disorders and Stem Cells

Temporomandibular disorder (TMD) is an umbrella term used to describe various conditions that affect temporomandibular joints, masticatory muscles, and associated structures. Although the most conservative and least invasive treatment is preferable, more invasive therapies should be employed to refractory patients. Tissue engineering has been presented as a promising therapy. Our study aimed to investigate trends and point out future research directions on TMD and stem cells. A comprehensive search was carried out in the Web of Science Core Collection (WoS-CC) in October 2022. The bibliometric parameters were analyzed through descriptive statistics and graphical mapping. Thus, 125 papers, published between 1992 and 2022 in 65 journals, were selected. The period with the highest number of publications and citations was between 2012 and 2022. China has produced the most publications on the subject. The most frequently used keywords were "cartilage", "temporomandibular joint", "mesenchymal stem cells", and "osteoarthritis". Moreover, the primary type of study was in vivo. It was noticed that using stem cells to improve temporomandibular joint repair and regeneration is a significant subject of investigation. Nonetheless, a greater understanding of the biological interaction and the benefits of using these cells in patients with TMD is required.