Review of reviews: research type not broken down · review
Song E et al., Lasers in Medical Science 2026
An umbrella review of 100 systematic reviews of low-level light therapy / photobiomodulation found that 62 reviews concluded in favour of the intervention, 34 were neutral/mixed, and 4 unclear, with the highest share of favourable conclusions in oncology-related complications (especially oral mucositis). 90 of 100 included reviews scored low or critically low on AMSTAR 2, some reviews overlapped heavily in the primary studies they counted, and the umbrella did not compute pooled effect sizes or GRADE certainty, so this maps the review literature rather than proving efficacy.
Source: Umbrella review of low-level light therapy: evidence across clinical conditions. Song E, Ang L, Yim MH, Choi S, Kim J. Lasers in Medical Science. 2026;41(1):259. doi:10.1007/s10103-026-05064-3. PMID:42878931; PMC13672599. Published 2026-10-15. PROSPERO: CRD420261327092
Verified research card EL-20261019-02-R1