Vitiligo and Skincare Physicians Meetings

Biography

Biography: Pieter Spee

Abstract

Vitiligo is a chronic and as yet incurable disease characterized by depigmentation of skin. Disease progression often follows the typical pattern of disease-active periods that are alternated by periods of relative stability. There are no specific treatments for vitiligo, with the exception of skin transplantation, which success critically depends on stable disease to avoid depigmentation of transplanted skin. Treatments for active disease typically suppress inflammation, a critical component of vitiligo pathology, with the aim to inhibit the expansion of skin lesions. Treatment options include steroids, calcineurin inhibitors, as well as phototherapy, which only have effect on active disease, but not on stable disease. Although the status of disease activity is an important parameter for treatment decision-making, assessment of disease activity remains difficult. Either, dermatologists monitor the expansion of lesions, a rather lengthy process or dermatologists rely on patient testimonies. Both methods have proven unsatisfactory and thus there is an unmet medical need for diagnostic tools that can monitor disease activity to guide disease management. FibroTx TAP and SELF are novel molecular diagnostic platform technologies that can measure protein biomarkers directly from skin. These non-invasive platform technologies are currently being tested in clinical studies for the development of a skin diagnostic tool that can assess the activity status of skin lesions of vitiligo patients. The aim of the studies is to develop the first point-of-care device that can markedly improve vitiligo treatment, which is cost-efficient and does not require the need for clinical laboratory expertise.