New Hope for Patients with Vitiligo

Vitiligo affects 0.5 to 2% of the population worldwide. This chronic autoimmune disease manifests as pale skin patches, caused by local death of pigment-producing melanocytes. The extent and perceived burden of disease vary, but lesions affecting the face and hands in persons with darker skin can be severely stigmatizing.1 The prognosis of vitiligo is difficult to predict because disease outcome is affected by both environmental and genetic factors. Effective treatments that induce long-term remission or cure are not yet available, and although topical use of the immunosuppressant drug tacrolimus or ultraviolet B (UVB) phototherapy2 can improve lesions affecting the face, . . .