Guest editors' introduction—Vitiligo and hypopigmentation

Abstract

Editorial We are living in an exciting era of vitiligo research. There has been an unprecedented focus on vitiligo in the field of dermatology, pharmaceutical and publishing industry, as well as among academic institutions. Partly, this is due to economic growth in countries with people of skin of color where vitiligo has a significant impact on quality of life, and therefore, a rise in the demand for treatment of vitiligo as the purchasing power of patients improves. Still, in most countries, the treatment of vitiligo as a disease is not covered in the health insurance and the treatment of vitiligo becomes burdensome for the patients. Till recently, the only topical cream approved by US ‐ FDA for treatment of vitiligo, was monobenzyl ether of hydroquinone, a depigmenting cream which is used for bleaching of residual pigment when repigmentation is not a realistic goal due to widespread body surface area involvement in vitiligo. However, in a first, US ‐ FDA has recently approved, in the year 2022, Ruxolitinib as a repigmenting topical agent for treatment of vitiligo. This is a sign of paradigm shift in the approach, where vitiligo is not merely considered a cosmetic nuisance but, more realistically, an autoimmune disease with significant psychosocial problems. The current issue of Dermatological reviews is a welcome addition in the existing literature on vitiligo. Many renowned researchers from across the world have contributed to this issue. The issue comprehensively covers the basic science, psychological aspects, clinical science, clinical signs and biomarkers of disease activity and disease stability, recent advances in the medical treatment, and surgical approaches of treatment for vitiligo. Rarely, we do get such an extensive discussion on vitiligo in any dermatology journals. Therefore, this issue will be a valuable resource on recent advances in the science related to vitiligo. We hope you will enjoy reading these papers.