A Mole in Your Health: Can Red Light Therapy Cause Melanoma?

A single word can change a life and echo in ripples through the entire community. Once, you would have shuddered in terror if anyone uttered the word “plague” in your presence. Today, it is “cancer” that sends us into panic mode and makes us feel helpless, angry, confused, and afraid for our lives and the lives of those we love. It is somehow even more insulting because it is a silent, secret, slow devouring, rather than something you can openly fight.

Amongst these unwelcome lesions on our soul is melanoma – one of the most serious types of skin cancer, due to its quite benign-looking, mole-masquerading beginnings, the ability to grow rapidly, and metastasize in a heartbeat. Since melanomas are usually found on the skin surface (but can hide in strange places like under a fingernail, on your feet, or on the inside of your mouth), it is no wonder that we’re quite worried that using skincare items and new technologies that concern the skin could prompt the melanoma to develop or spread. One of these technologies that has come front and center is red light therapy (RLT) or photobiomodulation. Non-invasive, painless, and with essentially no side effects, this treatment has taken over the worlds of medicine, skincare, and wellness. But can red light therapy cause melanoma or increase the risk of skin cancer in any way? This is what we’re here to find out today.

In a population decimated by an enemy we can’t see and are uncertain how to fight, concerns are understandable. After all, light exposure and skin cancer have a long and complicated history, but we’re here to untangle myth from fact and explore what science, and not hearsay or anecdotal evidence, really says about the danger of red light therapy for melanoma. Is red light therapy really dangerous, or could it have some beneficial cancer-fighting traits or help with post-treatment recovery? Life is sometimes stranger than fiction. Let’s dive in.

How cancer sold out all of the medical theater tickets?

Not quite in record time, mind you. It took a few millennia until the far more instantly deadly diseases were rooted out, and life expectancy and medicine advanced. We finally lived long enough to develop cancer, and the medical experts can reliably find it.

Cancer is not a new occurrence; it is just much more prevalent/discoverable now. In Antiquity (Egypt, Greece, and Rome), people already knew, and Hippocrates even coined the term “karkinos” for tumors. Still, diseases like plague, smallpox, or leprosy were more terrifying as the symptoms were very visible, fast, and quite deadly. In the Middle Ages & Renaissance, cancer was associated with imbalances in the body’s humors. When faced with the survival of the Black Death, a small mass that shouldn’t be there is not your biggest concern. The 18th–19th century recognized it as a distinct and serious disease, yet tuberculosis, cholera, and childbirth complications were far more common medical topics. As antibiotics and vaccines tamed infections killers in the 20th century, people began living long enough to develop cancer. It became so prevalent that it outgrew a status of just an illness, becoming a metaphor for something hidden, invasive, and hard (but getting ever more possible) to beat.
 

What is melanoma?

Melanoma is the most serious type of skin cancer that begins in melanocytes, which are the pigment-producing cells in the skin that make melanin. Melanin (not to be confused with melatonin) is what gives your skin, hair, and eyes their color.

Melanoma begins with DNA damage of the melanocytes, most commonly by ultraviolet (UV) light from the sun or tanning beds, but genetics and immune factors are not to be neglected. DNA damage impacts the cell's growth and division, and a cancerous cell doesn’t stop dividing as a normal cell would. But the body is very smart and has redundancy built in. If healthy cells notice DNA damage, they will undergo programmed death and self-destruct (apoptosis) for the good of the whole. In melanoma, this safety mechanism fails, letting the damaged cells not only survive but also invade nearby tissues and enter the bloodstream or lymph, spreading them throughout the body as metastasis.

How do you know it's time to get yourself checked out by a professional? Doctors use the ABCDE rule to assess suspicious moles:

• Asymmetry (one side is not the same as the other)
• Border irregularity (jagged, unclear, scalloped borders)
• Color variation (tan, brown, black, white, red, or blue)
• Diameter is usually larger than 6 mm (but can sometimes be smaller)
• Evolving (changes over time in size, shape, color, or texture).

You‘re at an even greater risk if you have some of the following melanoma risk factors, such as fair skin, family history of melanoma, many moles on your body, frequent sunburns, or weakened immunity. The diagnosis is a devastating moment that shakes people down to their cores. Still, the good news is that when caught early, melanoma is highly treatable.
 

There is nothing better you can do for yourself, especially if you’ve got a few of those risk factors present, than regular skin checks and sun protection. We need the sun to live and thrive, and 15 minutes in the morning and late afternoon sun will do wonders for your circadian rhythm and health, but we want you to seriously think about this - the sun is a nuclear furnace in the sky. Unprotected overexposure means you’re repeatedly exposing yourself to the cell-mutating radiation.

If melanoma is caught early, surgery is the primary treatment, destroying and eliminating the mole before it gets a chance to do damage. Advanced cases may require immunotherapy, targeted therapy, chemotherapy, or radiation, depending on whether the melanoma has seeded metastasis. But let’s get back on track (a bit better informed now). Can red light therapy cause melanoma, or is red light therapy good for melanoma in some cases?

Does Red Light Therapy Increase Melanoma Risk?

The short answer is: no — there is no scientific evidence that red light therapy causes melanoma. A brief explanation for those living in the “ain’t nobody got time for that” universe on the basics of this hard no are as follows. Unlike UV rays, red and near-infrared (NIR) light are non-ionizing, meaning they do not have the power to damage DNA, mutate skin cells, or initiate carcinogenesis. According to the World Health Organization, only ionizing radiation (like X-rays or UV) has enough energy to mess with something as crucial as DNA bonds. Red and NIR light simply have no capacity to do this damage.
 

The sun is not an evil, hot-headed genius, nor is it trying to smite us specifically. It’s just that UV rays are a natural byproduct of the sun’s energy production, which happens through crashing hydrogen atoms together to get helium and release a huge amount of electromagnetic radiation. This radiation expands into all directions as visible light, radiation we can feel as heat even through clothing (infrared), and some we can’t see at all (ultraviolet, X-rays, gamma rays). The ozone layer is very very good at filtering out most gamma rays, X-rays, and the most harmful UV, called UVC, but some UVA and UVB rays still make it through and reach our skin and melanocytes.

Science Corner: Can Red Light Therapy Affect Cancer Cells?

Nothing in this world is black and white (not even black and white are real in physics, but what is these days, right?). This is where nuance in life and science alike comes in. While red light therapy and melanoma risk have no direct connection, the question was too interesting to be left alone. Lab coats did what they do best: put their safety goggles on and did some good ol’ research on how RLT interacts with cancer cells. Research shows:

• Some in vitro studies suggest RLT may boost cell metabolism, which in theory could influence tumor cells — but findings remain inconsistent.
• Austin et al. (2023) showed that using 640 J/cm2 red light therapy for melanoma in vitro RL decreased cellular proliferation without increasing apoptosis (programmed cell death), and double power increased apoptosis. 2560 J/cm2 of red light immune markers in animal models. 1280 and 1920 J/cm2 RL decreased tumor volume, but not significantly. There were no adverse reactions, such as skin inflammation or erythema in normal skin. This means that not only is red light therapy safe for melanoma, but it is also a potential therapeutic approach.
• De Souza Contatori et al. (2022) investigated the NIR and red light therapy for melanoma differing by pigmentation.  Non-pigmented melanoma cells didn’t really respond to NIR, but pigmented cells reacted differently depending on the light and dose, meaning low doses made them more aggressive. A high dose of red light reduced tumor growth and blood vessel formation, helping mice live longer. While not a cure, this research suggests red light therapy could one day support melanoma care.
• Luitel et al. (2024) analyzed 23 studies using either lasers or LEDs, finding unstratified evidence that certain light types can make cancer cells die or become more sensitive to chemotherapy, while others might help cancer cells grow. Still, both laser and LED light helped reduce common side effects of cancer treatment, such as painful mouth sores, dry mouth, and nerve pain, which improved patients’ quality of life; this is something that deserves special attention.

There is even a new approach to treating unreachable or difficult-to-operate tumors called photoimmunotherapy, where an antibody–photoabsorber (molecules that absorb and are activated by light) binds to cancer cells. When near-infrared light is applied (because infrared penetrates deeper into tissue than red light), the photoabsorbers activate, making the cancer cell absorb vast amounts of intercellular water, making it swell and then burst, causing the cancer cell to die. The entire mass deteriorates and gets replaced by healthy cells. Photoimmunotherapy is in clinical trials in patients with inoperable tumors.
 

But in general, the medical consensus is clear: Can red light therapy cause melanoma? No. Red light therapy is also not a definite treatment or cure for cancer, including melanoma. Still, the results show promise that it could have some therapeutic benefits during cancer treatment to slow down or arrest progression and in post-treatment recovery, or even destroy inoperable tumors in combination with NIR light therapy and targeted drugs. We just don’t know enough yet for the experts to recommend using RLT over known or suspected tumors without feeling uneasy. If you’re considering red light therapy for melanoma, please talk to your oncologist.
 

Active Melanoma and Red Light Therapy?

Still, the outcomes of red light therapy depend on wavelength, dosage, and exposure time even in healthy individuals, making the use of red light therapy for melanoma and any other cancer a complex, case-by-case matter, rather than a one-size-fits-all approach. It is one more step towards the holy grail of non-invasive, personalized medicine. If you have an active melanoma diagnosis, please do not use red light therapy without medical supervision. Not because red light therapy is inherently bad for melanoma, but because cancers are not all the same, and some cells may respond unpredictably to increased mitochondrial stimulation.

If you’d like to do red light therapy, be it for medical or aesthetic purposes, such as getting an anti-aging LED therapy face mask, ring your doctor up. They’ll be happy to hear from you.

Is red light therapy ok if you have any type of cancer? Well, it depends on the cancer type and stage. And most likely red light will be used in post-recovery procedures in clinical oncology for conditions like oral mucositis in cancer patients that appear due to chemotherapy or radiation, but not for treating tumors themselves. Every condition with the suffix "-itis" is an inflammatory state, and the success of LLLT in treating these may be due to the hyper-stimulation of mitochondria (the energy cells), speeding up recovery, and mitigating inflammation.
 

What Are the Negative Effects of Red Light Therapy?

You can hurt yourself with a cotton ball if it is used as it was not supposed to be used. Even too much of a good thing, such as water or oxygen, can be detrimental or lethal (yes, really). So, as far as your non-necessary treatments (not quite true, you’re getting red light wavelengths each time you step into the sunshine) go, red light therapy is a very low-risk, safe treatment when used as recommended. The dangers and possible side effects of red light therapy are mainly associated with faulty or low-quality devices, misuse, or overexposure.
 

For healthy individuals, these rare RLT side effects are mild and temporary, such as:

• Skin warmth or redness
• Tightness or dryness
• Irritation from overuse
• Eye strain

Incorrect wavelength or prolonged exposure can cause harm, but will mostly make your treatment ineffective and a waste of time. Always, and we mean always, protect the eyes if your red light therapy device demands it. Some devices and wavelengths may be beneficial for eye health, but risking it at home without professional guidance is not worth the risk. You only got these two precious apples. When it comes to skincare, many advanced anti-aging light therapy masks and red light wands today have built-in safety mechanisms. They are in direct contact with skin, not dispersing the light to the eyes, unlike the red light panels, and require no goggles.
 

Who should not do red light therapy?

No matter how benign or safe something is, there are always groups of individuals who should think twice before reaching for a new treatment or technology. Who should not use red light therapy willy-nilly without proper consultation?

• Active skin cancer or melanoma or history of melanoma (please ask for physician clearance, and discuss if this non-invasive approach would work for recovery in your specific case)
• Photosensitivity disorders (as these people may have unpredictable and dangerous reactions to bright or flashing lights)
• Epilepsy (flashing light exposure is a sure way to trigger an epilepsy seizure that can be severe enough to cause permanent brain damage)
• Pregnancy (limited research is available because our society is not very eager to test anything on a new life forming, so if you’re pregnant or breastfeeding, maybe wait a bit)
• Use of light-sensitizing medications (these lead to induced photosensitivity that may subside once you’re off the medicines, but refrain from any kind of light therapy during their use)
   

Final Thoughts: Red Light Therapy and Melanoma

The word cancer still casts a long shadow in our collective imagination and grabs attention with a terror of the unknown. When it comes to red light therapy, science speaks with rare certainty here: no, red light therapy does not cause melanoma and can even be a good addition to post-cancer recovery. Unlike the unforgiving ultraviolet rays of the sun, red and near-infrared light are gentle frequencies, unable to break DNA or spark the chain reaction that turns a healthy cell malignant. But cancer is complex, and melanoma is complex, fast, and prone to spreading.

Research tells us that while red light therapy may one day find a definitive place in supportive cancer care — easing side effects, improving recovery, maybe even slowing tumor growth under careful conditions — it is not, and should not yet be considered a cure. That is the domain of oncologists, surgeons, and immunotherapies, which are doing some really impressive things with targeted medicine and NIR light therapy.

So, can red light therapy cause melanoma? No. Can it help with melanoma? Possibly, but this is too important to dabble in yourself, and you’ll need professional help. As always, somewhere between fear and hype lies the truth: red light therapy is safe for healthy skin and promising for many conditions, including melanoma, but we need to respect the science, respect the doctors, and respect the limits of what we know today.

We’re getting closer to shining a light into the beastly things that crouch in the darkest corners of our collective shadows, so hope is no longer just a last-resort product of helplessness. Now it lies on the principle that the more we know, the better we can do. Stay curious, stay beautiful, be healthy, check your moles, and enjoy living in your skin.