Prevention of skin cancer was on the agenda at USA's largest conference on laser for medical treatment
A unique forum
Every year, the American Society for Laser Medicine and Surgery hosts USA's largest conference on laser and energy-based technologies for medical treatment. The conference is a unique forum for knowledge sharing and idea generation for a multidisciplinary range of healthcare professionals and industry representatives.
This year, the conference was held in Orlando, Florida, with a massive program featuring presentations on the latest developments in clinical equipment and recent research projects in the field. It was combined with an exhibition center where industry representatives showcased their latest equipment.
Impressions from the skin cancer researchers
Researchers from the Danish Research Center for Skin Cancer participated with presentations and teaching. Fortunately, they also had time to attend others' presentations, connect with potential partners, and see the latest laser and energy-based equipment. Professor and Chief Physician Merete Hædersdal, Senior Researcher Uffe Høgh Olesen, and Doctor and Ph.D. student Kevin Jacobsen share their impressions from the conference.
Method developed by Professor Merete Hædersdal at the Danish Research Center for Skin Cancer
"The conference is always amazing. This year, there was a lot of focus on the prevention of skin cancer with lasers," begins Professor Merete Hædersdal and continues: "Therefore, it was also gratifying to see that there was great interest in my full-day course on the basic use of lasers and my course in Laser Assisted Drug Delivery (LADD). I have been working on the dissemination of LADD since I developed the method at Harvard in 2009. It makes me happy to see that more health professionals are realizing that the technique makes treatment both more effective and gentler for the patient because medications are placed precisely where they need to act in the skin."
Merete Hædersdal with the LADD Dream Team David Ozog, Uwe Paasch, Jill Waibel and Ashish Bhatia
Ideation with other skin and skin cancer experts
Senior Researcher Uffe Høgh Olesen also noted the great interest in preventing skin cancer. "It is well known and proven that treatment with ablative lasers can prevent skin cancer. At the conference, we saw a similar protective effect with more and more non-ablative lasers. A process where the tissue is heated but not removed," says Uffe Høgh Olesen.
He continues: "Another takeaway for me is that a professional forum of this size, in terms of topics and presentations, is very important for cross-disciplinary collaborations. Not only to find new partners but also to see new perspectives and develop ideas with the partners we already work with."
Senior Researcher Uffe Høgh Olesen presents his research at ASLMS 2025.
Europe leads the field of non-invasive diagnostics of skin cancer
At the conference, hundreds of research projects are presented in short sessions of 5-8 minutes for smaller groups of the audience. Some projects are then selected to be presented on the main stage for a larger audience. Doctor and PhD student Kevin Jacobsen's research lies within the field of identification of precursors to skin cancer and skin cancer tumors using Line-Field Confocal Optical Coherence Tomography, a form of skin scanning, and his presentation on how the technology can optimize examinations of organ transplant patients' skin was selected for the main stage.
"I am very pleased that I was allowed to present the latest exciting results from the the Danish Research Center for Skin Cancer. We are far ahead in Europe in exploring this form of diagnostic technology, so it is exciting to see that the technique is now also approved in the USA. This bodes well for future transatlantic research collaborations, which can also help strengthen research here at Bispebjerg Hospital," concludes Kevin.
Doctor and PhD student Kevin Jacobsen's presentation on optical diagnostics of skin cancer in organ transplanted patients was shortlisted for the wide audience.
