Reporter Volume 25, No.13 December 2, 1993

By MARY BETH SPINA
News Bureau Staff

Lasers soon may be used more widely in the health care field,
partially replacing the surgeon's scalpel in the operating room,
identifying and removing pre-malignant and cancerous lesions and
ultimately functioning as a dental drill, a UB dental researcher has
predicted.
	Charles Liebow, internationally known for his laser research
and its potential for removing pre-cancerous and malignant tissue in
the mouth, outlined the growing importance of lasers in at a National
Institutes of Health conference on "Scientific Frontiers in Clinical
Dentistry."
	Liebow, director of the Laser and Photodynamic Oral and
Maxillofacial Center at the UB School of Dental Medicine, explained
that lasers use focused energy to vaporize tissue and enhance specific
biochemical reactions by monochromatic light.
	"Selecting the proper laser is vital," he said, "with energy
absorption defining the cutting characteristics of the laser."
	For example, carbon-dioxide laser light is highly absorbed by
water and tissue, but can't be used with conventional fiberoptics.
Tissue damage can be minimized by using high-power density.
	Neodynium: Yttrium Aluminium Garnet (Nd:YAG) laser allows more
effective coagulation of blood, often without damaging even surface
tissue.
	In photodynamic therapy, special medications activated by
lasers selectively kill cancer and pre-cancerous lesions without
harming normal tissue, Liebow explained.
	Patients and dentists often find the use of lasers preferable
to conventional surgery because healing is more rapid, producing
minimal bleeding and patient discomfort. 
	Removal of diseased tissue using lasers can be more precise
than removal with conventional scalpels, with little or no damage to
surrounding healthy tissue. Lasers have been especially effective in
the removal of leukoplakia, which is abnormal tissue that may or may
not be malignant; malignant lesions of the tongue, and growths on soft
tissue throughout the mouth and elsewhere in the body.
	Animal research conducted by Liebow and his colleagues at UB
and Roswell Park Cancer Institute suggests that carbon-dioxide lasers
cause significant release by the body of growth factors that aid
healing and may direct regeneration of tissue.
	Liebow warned that safety and efficacy guidelines must be
established for each laser system.
	"It is also imperative that clinicians using laser be
adequately trained," he emphasized.