Narrowband UVB therapy in the treatment of lichen planus

Background: Recently, UVB lamps with a peak emission around 311 nm have been used successfully for the treatment of many dermatologic diseases known to be treated with psoralen plus UVA ( PUVA). Narrowband UVB (NBUVB) radiation causes less erythema and carcinogenicity with lower cumulative doses than PUVA, while the treatment response remains high. Lichen planus ( LP) is a cell-mediated immune response of unknown origin. Methods: We present our results of NBUVB therapy administered to 10 LP patients. The sessions were administered three to four times weekly with an average cumulative dose of 17.7 +/- 1.6 J/cm(2). Results: Five patients responded completely, and four were partially responsive at the end of the 30th session. Three of the partially responsive cases responded completely at the 31st, 36th and 51st sessions, respectively. Conclusion: Clinical improvements observed in our study as well as the potential advantages of NBUVB imply that it is an inevitable treatment alternative for resistant cases of LP.