ArticleJAMA dermatology2020
Evaluation for Skin Cancer and Precancer in Patients With Vitiligo Treated With Long-term Narrowband UV-B Phototherapy.
Article in JAMA dermatology, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 23 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
23 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 78 citations in OpenAlex.
- Second Guidelines for the Diagnosis and Treatment of Vitiligo in Japan (2025).The Journal of dermatology · 2026Guideline
- The Effectiveness of Home-Based Phototherapy in Vitiligo: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.Photodermatology, photoimmunology & photomedicine · 2026Pooled it
- The Influence of Sunscreen Use on Skin Pigmentation Disorders: Melasma, Post-Inflammatory Hyperpigmentation, and Vitiligo.Current issues in molecular biology · 2026Review
- Current Management and Emerging Therapies for Pediatric Vitiligo: A Narrative Review.Paediatric drugs · 2026Review
- Mutation burden of narrowband ultraviolet B phototherapy (NB-UVB) in human skin: relevance to NB-UVB lifetime exposures and skin cancer surveillance.The British journal of dermatology · 2025Article
- Vitiligo.Journal der Deutschen Dermatologischen Gesellschaft = Journal of the German Society of Dermatology : JDDG · 2025Review
- A Retrospective Comparison of Narrowband-UVB Phototherapy in Pediatric Versus Adult Vitiligo.Children (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- Recent clinical and mechanistic insights into vitiligo offer new treatment options for cell-specific autoimmunity.The Journal of clinical investigation · 2025Review
- Knowledge, Attitude, and Behavior of Photoprotection in Thai Vitiligo Patients.Clinical, cosmetic and investigational dermatology · 2025Article
- Gold nanorods as biocompatible nano-agents for the enhanced photothermal therapy in skin disorders.Journal of biomedical research · 2024Article
- The Effect of Phototherapy on Systemic Inflammation Measured with Serum Vitamin D-Binding Protein and hsCRP in Patients with Inflammatory Skin Disease.International journal of molecular sciences · 2024Article
- Treatment of oral graft-versus-host disease with intraoral nbUVB phototherapy.Supportive care in cancer : official journal of the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer · 2024Article
- Perception of skin cancer risk and sun protective practices in individuals with vitiligo: a prospective international cross-sectional survey.Archives of dermatological research · 2024Article
- [Quality of life, disease burden and healthcare need of patients with vitiligo].Dermatologie (Heidelberg, Germany) · 2024Review
- Actinic keratoses and squamous cell carcinoma limited to photo-exposed skin in vitiligo vulgaris in pigmented skin type.BMJ case reports · 2024Article
- Vitiligo: Current Therapies and Future Treatments.Dermatology practical & conceptual · 2023Review
- Comparison of Skin Transcriptome between Responder and Non-Responder Vitiligo Lesions to Cell Transplantation: A Clinical Trial Study.Cell journal · 2022Article
- Reduced risk of skin cancer and internal malignancies in vitiligo patients: a retrospective population-based cohort study in Taiwan.Scientific reports · 2021Article
- Photoprotection according to skin phototype and dermatoses: practical recommendations from an expert panel.Journal of the European Academy of Dermatology and Venereology : JEADV · 2021Review
- Association between Skin Cancer and Systemic and Ocular Comorbidities in South Korea.Journal of clinical medicine · 2021Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
19 authors at 13 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Importance: Narrowband UV-B (NBUVB) phototherapy has been the mainstay in the treatment of vitiligo, but its long-term safety in terms of photocarcinogenesis has not been established. Objectives: To investigate the risks of skin cancer and precancerous lesions among patients with vitiligo undergoing NBUVB phototherapy, based on the number of NBUVB phototherapy sessions. Design, Setting, and Participants: This nationwide population-based retrospective cohort study enrolled 60 321 patients with vitiligo 20 years or older between January 1, 2007, and December 31, 2017. Patients and outcomes were identified through nationwide cohort data from the Korean national health insurance claims database, and frequency matching by age and sex was performed. Exposures: The number of phototherapy sessions each patient received between 2008 and 2017. Patients were classified into 5 groups according to the number of phototherapy sessions (0 sessions, 20 105 patients; 1-49 sessions, 20 106 patients; 50-99 sessions, 9702 patients; 100-199 sessions, 6226 patients; and ≥200 sessions, 4182 patients). We also identifed patients who underwent at least 500 phototherapy sessions (717 patients). Main Outcomes and Measures: Primary outcomes were the development of actinic keratosis, Bowen disease, nonmelanoma skin cancer, or melanoma after enrollment. Results: Among the 60 321 patients with vitiligo in this study (33 617 women; mean [SD] age, 50.2 [14.9] years), the risks of Bowen disease (<50 sessions of phototherapy: hazard ratio [HR], 0.289 [95% CI, 0.060-1.392]; 50-99 sessions: HR, 0.603 [95% CI, 0.125-2.904]; 100-199 sessions: HR, 1.273 [95% CI, 0.329-4.924]; ≥200 sessions: HR, 1.021 [95% CI, 0.212-4.919]), nonmelanoma skin cancer (<50 sessions: HR, 0.914 [95% CI, 0.533-1.567]; 50-99 sessions: HR, 0.765 [95% CI, 0.372-1.576]; 100-199 sessions: HR, 0.960 [95% CI, 0.453-2.034]; ≥200 sessions: HR, 0.905 [95% CI, 0.395-2.073]), and melanoma (<50 sessions: HR, 0.660 [95% CI, 0.286-1.526]; 50-99 sessions: HR, 0.907 [95% CI, 0.348-2.362]; 100-199 sessions: HR, 0.648 [95% CI, 0.186-2.255]; ≥200 sessions: HR, 0.539 [95% CI, 0.122-2.374]) did not increase after phototherapy. The risk of actinic keratosis increased significantly for those who had undergone 200 or more NBUVB phototherapy sessions (HR, 2.269 [95% CI, 1.530-3.365]). A total of 717 patients with vitiligo underwent at least 500 sessions of NBUVB phototherapy; their risks of nonmelanoma skin cancer and melanoma were no greater than those of the patients who did not undergo NBUVB phototherapy (nonmelanoma skin cancer: HR, 0.563 [95% CI, 0.076-4.142]; melanoma: HR, not applicable). Conclusions and Relevance: Our results suggest that long-term NBUVB phototherapy is not associated with an increased risk of skin cancer in patients with vitiligo and that NBUVB phototherapy may be considered a safe treatment.
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