Laser therapy is used primarily to treat cancers of the skin, trachea, lungs, esophagus, stomach, colon, rectum and anus. It can't replace surgery, radiation or chemotherapy as a definitive cancer treatment, but it can complement these therapies in a variety of ways.
Direct laser therapy to the skin or cervix can be very successful. But the usual objective of laser therapy is to help relieve an acute obstruction. This might be done so that surgery, radiotherapy or chemotherapy can be used effectively. Or it may be done to keep some vital body tube open-- the esophagus for swallowing, the trachea for breathing or the colon, rectum and anus for eliminating stool .
The benefits are usually short-term, however, and there are technical limitations. The best results are usually obtained in centers where the procedure is performed frequently by highly experienced endoscopists.
Planning the Treatment Before laser therapy is even attempted on the trachea, bronchi or gastrointestinal tract, the first thing to decide is whether an endoscopic biopsy needs to be done to verify the diagnosis.
The next step is a thorough clinical assessment. This may involve specific kinds of x-rays (such as a barium swallow or barium enema), CT or MRI scans and ultrasound . These imaging studies are needed to estimate the risk of bleeding and to map the exact shape angles (as in the colon or esophagus) that will have to be dealt with.
