The multicenter LITE trial included 783 patients at 42 sites in the United States.
across all skin types and was associated with improved Physician's Global Assessment and Dermatology Life Quality Index scores, results from a pragmatic,, professor of dermatology and epidemiology at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, told attendees of a late-breaking abstract session at the annual meeting of the American Academy of Dermatology.
Gelfand and colleagues at 42 sites in the United States enrolled 783 patients aged 12 years and older who had plaque or guttate psoriasis and were candidates for phototherapy at home or in an office setting. New or established patients to the practices were accepted into the trial, while those treated with phototherapy within 14 days before the baseline visit were not. These entry criteria "are highly pragmatic and reflect routine clinical practice," he said.
Among patients who reported "itchy, sore, painful, or stinging" skin in the previous week, 63% characterized the degree of discomfort as "not at all or a little," while 28% said "a lot," and 9% said "very much." No patients withdrew or stopped phototherapy during the trial because of treatment-related side effects, "so it's very well tolerated," Gelfand said.
The researchers studied the efficacy of narrow-band UVB in patients who had at least two treatments per week for 12 weeks. In this subgroup of patients, 60% achieved clear or almost clear skin and nearly 50% achieved the equivalent of a Psoriasis Area and Severity Index 90 score.