Superstar Michael Jackson and more than 40 million others
who suffer from a de-pigmenting skin disease now have a better
way to predict the effectiveness of treatment, thanks to a
clinical measurement tool created by a University of British
Columbia dermatology researcher.
Prof. Harvey Lui, who is also a researcher at Vancouver Coastal
Health Research Institute (VCHRI), has developed the first
standardized quantitative measure of the effectiveness of
treating vitiligo, a disfiguring condition where pigment is
lost from the skin, leaving white patches.
Called the Vitiligo Area Scoring Index (VASI), the tool is
a simple scale that allows patients and clinicians to speak
a common language when discussing how vitiligo will respond
to treatment. The condition rarely responds completely to
treatment, so any therapy must be evaluated according to the
degree of repigmentation that can be expected. A similar index
is used to evaluate psoriasis treatment.
“Doctors haven’t had a common yardstick until
now so we couldn’t compare treatments in a scientific
way,” says Lui, head of UBC’s division of dermatology.
“This tool takes the guesswork out of predicting treatment
outcomes. It will give both doctor and patient a better idea
of what to expect from a variety of treatment options and
help them choose the best one.”
Lui and his research team tested VASI’s usefulness
in a controlled six-month study of 22 patients who received
a form of ultraviolet light therapy called narrowband UV-B.
Using the VASI index, he found that the extent of repigmentation
on the treated side was almost 43 per cent and that legs,
trunk, and arms were much more likely to repigment than feet
and hands.
“This type of phototherapy works, however, it is a
long and arduous treatment process and we hope our data will
prove useful in helping patients make an informed decision,”
says Lui. “Better treatments are still needed.”
Vitiligo, which affects about 40-50 million people worldwide,
is a pigmentation disorder that destroys melanocytes — the
cells that make pigment. The disorder affects all races and
both sexes equally and the cause is unknown. Jackson has reported
that he suffers from vitiligo.
The research article can be found at http://archderm.ama-assn.org/.
The Dept. of Medicine, part of UBC’s Faculty of Medicine,
is the university’s largest department with 366 faculty
members in 16 divisions. The department attracted more than
$40 million in research funding in 2003 / 2004.
VCHRI is a joint venture between UBC and Vancouver Coastal
Health that promotes development of new researchers and research
activity.
NB: A 24-year-old Vancouver vitiligo patient
who participated in the study is available for media interviews.
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