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Publication
Personalized Medicine Requires Personalized Delivery: Home-Based Phototherapy for Vitiligo
Personalized vitiligo care should consider not only which treatment is appropriate, but whether a patient can realistically access and sustain it. This letter examines home-based narrowband UVB (NB-UVB) phototherapy as an example of this second dimension of personalized medicine.
Recent evidence suggests that supervised home phototherapy may achieve repigmentation outcomes comparable to clinic-based treatment for selected patients, while potentially reducing treatment discontinuation and the burden of repeated clinic visits. However, limitations in the available evidence — including short follow-up, limited representation of skin phototypes, device regulation, reimbursement, and long-term safety — mean that home treatment should not be viewed as a simple substitute for clinical phototherapy.
The authors propose incorporating “delivery suitability” into personalized vitiligo assessment, considering treatment burden, geography, affordability, ability to follow dosing protocols, remote monitoring, and access to in-person care. Properly implemented, dermatologist-supervised home NB-UVB could help make effective treatment more accessible without compromising safety.
Published: Journal of European Academy of Dermatology and Venereology
Date: 13 September 2026
Personalized medicine requires personalized delivery: Home-based phototherapy for vitiligo
Yan Valle, Torello Lotti, Julia Sigova, Davinder Parsad
FAQOther Questions
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Vitiligo is not contagious. This means it cannot be spread from person to person through physical contact, sharing personal items, or any other means of transmission. Vitiligo i...
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