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Status unknownNCT01792245Updated Jul 2, 2015

Topical Psoralen Ultraviolet Light A Versus Narrow Band Ultraviolet Light B Treatment for Recalcitrant Dermatoses of the Hand

A Phase 2 interventional study of Phototherapy in Vitiligo, sponsored by University of British Columbia. Status unknown at 1 site in Canada. Open to participants aged 19 Years and older. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2015-07-02.

Sponsored by University of British Columbia · Phase 2, Interventional, and Treatment

The sponsor has not verified this record recently (last verified Jun 2015), so the status shown — last known as Recruiting — may be out of date.
Phase
Phase 2
Study type
Interventional
Enrollment
30
Allocation
Randomized
Ages
19 Years and older
Sex
All
01

Study summary

Hand psoriasis/eczema is a common problem which is characterized by itchy, erythematous and scaly lesions often with a long lasting and relapsing course. Treatment is difficult with considerable number of patients do not or only partially respond to the current treatments. Several studies have shown the therapeutic effectiveness of the combination of topical psoralen with long wavelength ultraviolet A radiation (PUVA) in treating hand psoriasis/eczema. Topical PUVA is has several short- and long-term side effects. Narrow band ultraviolet B (NB-UVB) has emerged recently as an important treatment for a variety of photoresponsive diseases including psoriasis and eczema. For most conditions (other than hand psoriasis/eczema) NB-UVB has been shown to have similar therapeutic results to PUVA with less side effects. There are only a few studies published on the efficacy of NB-UVB for hand psoriasis/eczema. Therefore, this study is aimed at comparing the efficacy and safety of t-PUVA and NB-UVB in treating these conditions.

Read the detailed description

Hand dermatoses is a common problem which is characterized by itchy, erythematous and scaly lesions often with a long lasting and relapsing course. Patients presenting with these severe cutaneous changes are classified as having severe recalcitrant hand dermatoses. Treatment is difficult with considerable number of patients do not or only partially respond to the current treatments. Current treatment regimens mainly involve the use of high potency topical corticosteroids, which has only limited affect. Systemic treatment modalities have been utilized but have serious side effects with limited improvement of disease.

Several studies have shown the therapeutic effectiveness of the combination of topical psoralen with long wavelength ultraviolet A radiation (PUVA) in treating hand dermatoses. Topical PUVA is commonly associated with mild local sunburn reactions that often necessitate temporarily withholding treatment or decreasing the light dose. This subsequently leads to a delay in response or a prolongation of the treatment. Long term side effects include aging of the skin, hyperpigmentation, and a small increased risk of skin cancer that is more common in systemic PUVA. Narrow band ultraviolet B (NB-UVB) has emerged recently as an important treatment for a variety of photoresponsive diseases including psoriasis and eczema. For most conditions (other than hand psoriasis/eczema) NB-UVB has been shown to have similar therapeutic results to PUVA with less side effects.

There are only a few studies published on the efficacy of NB-UVB for hand psoriasis/eczema. Our hypothesis is that NB-UVB and topical PUVA will result in at least comparable improvement in hand psoriasis/eczema with less side effects associated with NB-UVB. We plan on conducting a prospective single-blind randomized clinical trial to compare the efficacy and safety of topical PUVA and NB-UVB in treating hand psoriasis/eczema.

Study Objectives

  1. To compare the effect of topical PUVA and NB-UVB on visual cutaneous symptoms in patients presenting with recalcitrant hand dermatoses.
  2. To compare the side effect profile of topical PUVA and NB-UVB when treating patients with recalcitrant hand dermatoses.
02

Conditions studied

  • Vitiligo

Keywords

  • narrow band UVB; PUVA; psoriasis; eczema; hand
03

In context

Vitiligo

298 studies on the registry are indexed under Vitiligo; 69 are open to participants now.

This study's planned enrollment of 30 is close to the median of 30 across 227 interventional studies indexed under Vitiligo.

Browse Vitiligo studies →

Lead sponsor

University of British Columbia is the lead sponsor of 1,309 studies on the registry; 253 are open to participants now.

Of its 6 completed or terminated interventional studies of FDA-regulated products, 1 (17%) have results posted.

Counted across the registry records on this site, refreshed daily.

04

Who can participate

Ages eligible
19 Years and older
Sexes eligible
All
Accepts healthy volunteers
No

Inclusion criteria

  • Chronic symmetrical severe hand psoriasis and eczema (allowing up to 15% difference in surface area between both hands). These include patients that have received topical corticosteroids previously and may or may have not responded to treatment.
  • Subjects should be 18 years old or older.

Exclusion criteria

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Any serious medical illness that will restrict the patient's ability to receive light treatments. That includes skin conditions, such as skin cancer or severe blistering conditions, or any serious medical conditions affecting the sensation of the extremities (eg. diabetic neuropathy, cervical stenosis).
  • Patients known to have a photosensitivity disorder
  • Patients with a history of intolerance to UVB and/or UVA light therapy.
  • Any subject who is on treatment or was on treatment for hand psoriasis/eczema less than two (topical) or four (systemic/phototherapy) weeks prior to enrollment in the study.
  • Pregnancy or breast-feeding.
05

Study design

Phase
Phase 2
Primary purpose
Treatment
Allocation
Randomized
Intervention model
Single group
Masking
Single (Outcomes assessor)
Enrollment
30 participants (estimated)

Study arms

  • Active comparator
    NB-UVB

    This single-blinded randomized bilateral left to right controlled comparison clinical trial of 24 weeks duration will compare the efficacy of NB-UVB to t-PUVA. For each patient one hand will be randomly assigned to receive t-PUVA and the other hand will receive NB-UVB. Each hand will receive treatment with either NB-UVB or topical PUVA three times weekly. Treatment will be performed until complete or almost complete clearing of psoriasis/eczema or until 50 exposures (over 16 weeks) have been reached, whichever comes first.

    Device: Phototherapy

  • Active comparator
    Topical PUVA

    This single-blinded randomized bilateral left to right controlled comparison clinical trial of 24 weeks duration will compare the efficacy of NB-UVB to t-PUVA. For each patient one hand will be randomly assigned to receive t-PUVA and the other hand will receive NB-UVB. Each hand will receive treatment with either NB-UVB or topical PUVA three times weekly. Treatment will be performed until complete or almost complete clearing of psoriasis/eczema or until 50 exposures (over 16 weeks) have been reached, whichever comes first.

    Device: Phototherapy

Interventions

  • DevicePhototherapy
06

What researchers measure

Primary outcomes

  1. The primary endpoint will be based on the change in visual cutaneous symptoms as measured by the modified ASI score

    Time frame: Baseline, every four weeks up to 16 weeks, and at 24 weeks

Secondary outcomes

  1. The overall change in physical appearance of the hand will be assessed by the global assessment

    Time frame: Every four weeks up to 16 weeks, and at 24 weeks

  2. Adverse effects will be assessed every four weeks, including erythema, pruritus, and tanning. This will be assessed using the following scale: 0=none, 1=mild, 2=moderate, 3=severe.

    Time frame: Every four weeks up to 16 weeks

07

Study locations

1 of 1 sites recruiting
  • The Skin Care Center, Vancouver General Hospital
    Vancouver, British Columbia V5Z 4E8, Canada
    • Harvey Lui, MD FRCPC · Contact · harvey.lui@ubc.ca · 16048754111
    • Sunil Kalia, MD FRCPC · Principal investigator
    Recruiting
08

Updates

Tracking since Sep 25, 2026
No changes since tracking began. The registry record was last updated on Jul 2, 2015, before this site started recording changes on Sep 25, 2026. Its history is on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗
09

Registry details

Key details

Study ID
NCT01792245
Lead sponsor
University of British Columbia
Responsible party
Sponsor
First posted
Feb 15, 2013
Start date
Feb 2013
Primary completion
Dec 2015 (estimated)
Last update
Jul 2, 2015

Study contacts

Harvey Lui, MD, FRCPC
Contact
harvey.lui@ubc.ca
Harvey Lui, MD, FRCPC
principal investigator · University of British Columbia

Oversight

Data monitoring committee
No
View the source record on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗

Not currently enrolling

This study is status unknown, as verified in Jun 2015. You cannot join it, but the record below documents what was studied.

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