The American Academy of Dermatology held its annual meeting in San Diego, California, from March 8 to 12, 2024. More than 20 sessions focused on psoriasis during the event.
In one session, Joel Gelfand, MD, reviewed the results of the LITE Study. The LITE study is a pragmatic randomized study to compare the effectiveness, safety, tolerability, and duration of treatment response at 12 weeks of home versus office-based narrowband ultraviolet B phototherapy for treating plaque or guttate psoriasis.1
The LITE study design differed from a clinical trial because it reflected real-world practice, so eligibility criteria were not as restrictive.1 Furthermore, the study was designed to occur during a patient’s routine clinical visit without requiring additional scheduled visits.
The LITE study was a collaboration between Dr. Gelfand from the University of Pennsylvania, Kristina Callis Duffin, MD, MS, University of Utah (Co-PI), and the National Psoriasis Foundation.
The University of Pennsylvania was the coordinating center for the study. Drs. Gelfand and Duffin enrolled 1,050 patients across 20-40 sites. The study team stratified patients by skin type, with 350 patients with Skin Types 1 and 2, 350 patients with Skin Types 3 and 4, and 350 patients with Skin Types 5 and 6. Recruitment for the LITE study began in 2019 and continued for three years.
Following his AAD presentation, Dr. Gelfand posted the study’s findings to his LinkedIn page. According to the findings—after criteria matching—783 patients with plaque or guttate psoriasis were enrolled across 42 sites in the US. Across all skin types and patient- and physician-reported outcomes, the researchers found that home phototherapy was not inferior to office phototherapy. Of note, patients with skin of color did especially well using home phototherapy.
Further findings showed effectiveness in the overall population and better effectiveness among patients who adhere to at least two treatments per week. These patients achieved clear or almost clear skin (60%), and roughly 50% achieved the equivalent of a Psoriasis Area And Severity Index score of 90.
The study authors also found that patients on biologics were more difficult to treat with phototherapy.
Overall, Drs. Gelfand and Duffin found that this data supports home phototherapy as a first-line treatment option—this option includes patients with no prior experience with phototherapy. Dr. Gelfand wrote, “efforts are needed to make both home and office phototherapy more available to patients.”
Additionally, he wrote, “both home and office phototherapy have excellent effectiveness and safety in real-world settings.”
The Patient Centered Outcomes Research Institute funded this study, which was part of a research partnership with the National Psoriasis Foundation.
