What Does the Future of Vitiligo Look Like? We Asked the Experts
In the past decade, there has been a surge of support for vitiligo through research, treatment, advocacy, media, and more. The output is tangible: the first Barbie with vitiligo, name brands featuring vitiligo models, the first FDA-approved drug for repigmentation of vitiligo (hi, Opzelura), and countless new treatments in clinical trials. The advancements are a stark contrast to the past reality of limited treatments, representation, and educational and social resources for those living with vitiligo. With all of this change, the future of vitiligo feels promising—but is it?
For many living with vitiligo, hope for the future is focused on the medical advancements for this condition. Treatments, and ultimately a cure (which does not yet exist), not only provide relief for those suffering from personal and social anxiety and stigma but also put control back in the hands of those living with vitiligo.
Will there be new, better treatments for vitiligo? Will there be a cure? We had the opportunity to ask the leading dermatologists in the U.S. who specialize in vitiligo treatment and research to share their thoughts on the future of vitiligo. (Spoiler alert—it’s pretty exciting.)
Here’s what these experts had to say.
Don’t give up hope. We are on our way to a cure someday soon and I’m thinking we are on the cusp.”
Seemal R. Desai, MD, FAAD
The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center; Physician Innovative Dermatology
“The future of vitiligo in my opinion is bright. There is hope on the horizon with so many new treatments being studied. Now more than ever this disease is experiencing a renaissance and so what I want everyone in the public—patients and families—to know: don’t give up hope. We are on our way to a cure someday soon and I’m thinking we are on the cusp.”
Dr. Pearl Grimes
The Vitiligo & Pigmentation Institute of Southern California
“I am so excited about vitiligo. We have made so many key advances in understanding what drives depigmentation in this very complex condition. So I envision an enlightening and amazing future. I think we will have an evolution of therapies that target specifically what is driving depigmentation and I truly believe that ultimately we will be able to cure vitiligo.”
Nada Elbuluk, MD, MSc, FAAD
Keck Hospital of University of Southern California
“I am very excited about the future of vitiligo because we are learning more about the disease state, the pathogenesis, and how we can have immune-targeted therapies to better offer a variety of treatments for those affected by vitiligo.”
The future of vitiligo has never been more exciting because of the accelerated pace at which we’re understanding vitiligo and finding new ways to treat it.”
John E. Harris, MD
University of Massachusetts Medical School
“The future of vitiligo has never been more exciting because of the accelerated pace at which we’re understanding vitiligo and finding new ways to treat it. Vitiligo has been recognized for thousands of years. The ancient Vedas in India were published in 1400 BC—that’s the Iron Age—talking about vitiligo and how to treat it. We haven’t had an FDA-approved treatment for [the repigmentation of] vitiligo until two years ago. And now we have five ongoing clinical trials for more that look like they are working, and so many more that are coming. I would say that because of that trajectory, the future is way better than it was a thousand years ago, way better than it was ten years ago. It’s a super exciting time. My patients ask me all the time, what are things going to look like in ten years? The answer is the landscape will be completely different. There’s a lot of hope and it’s not false hope, it’s real. It’s based on everything that has already happened and where we see it going.”
Iltefat Hamzavi, MD
Henry Ford Hospital, Hamzavi Dermatology
“I am most excited about the fact that we have combination treatments that in a certain percentage, a smaller percentage, can completely repigment people and we want to find a way to do it for more and more people. We’re also developing measures of well-being, which is what we should be targeting. Now that we can measure what’s most important to our community of vitiligo individuals, we can move back into science and combine what’s important with what works.”
Richard Huggins, MD
Henry Ford Hospital
“I’m really excited about the future of vitiligo. I don’t know what exactly it holds, but I know that it’s bright because we’re in the process of getting everyone involved in vitiligo treatment—people who live with vitiligo, the companies who treat it—and helping them get on the same page. We’re going to be able to get people enrolled in research studies, learn about treatments needed, understand what people are looking for in a cure, get laws passed to further support vitiligo and treatment coverage, get more funding for research. With all of us working together, the future is bright. And I just see more of that happening.”
Victor Huang, MD
UC Davis Department of Dermatology
“I’m really excited for the future for many different reasons but on the medical side, there is a wealth of investment and understanding and research that is going to be turning into new therapies that are going to treat vitiligo in a totally different way than it was treated before.”
