REVIEW article
Front. Immunol.
Sec. Autoimmune and Autoinflammatory Disorders : Autoimmune Disorders
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fimmu.2025.1625738
This article is part of the Research TopicAdvances in skin immunologyView all 10 articles
Targeted therapies induced depigmentation: A review
Provisionally accepted
- Shandong Provincial Hospital of Dermatology, Jinan, China
Select one of your emails
You have multiple emails registered with Frontiers:
Notify me on publication
Please enter your email address:
If you already have an account, please login
You don't have a Frontiers account ? You can register here
Skin depigmentation or vitiligo-like depigmentation (VLD) is one of the most prevalent cutaneous adverse events during targeted therapies for cancers or autoimmune diseases. The depigmentation is usually with high mental burden and affect the disease treatment, some of which are even clinical markers for good prognosis. This study aimed to explore the underlying immunopathologic mechanisms of VLD induced by targeted therapy for cancer and autoimmune disease as well as vaccine, such as immune checkpoint inhibitors (e.g., programmed death 1/programmed death-ligand 1 and cytotoxic T-lymphocyte antigen-4 inhibitors), v-raf murine sarcoma viral oncogene homolog inhibitors, tyrosine kinase inhibitors, and other targeted agents. Additionally, it examined the clinical presentations, prognostic implications, and management strategies for VLD across oncologic and nononcologic contexts, including cases associated with vaccines and biologics. The development of VLD often correlates with improved therapeutic outcomes, but it presents unique challenges in balancing antitumor efficacy with patients' quality of life. This review integrated insights from oncology, dermatology, and immunology, and underscored the need for multidisciplinary approaches to enhance the understanding, prevention, and management of these complex cutaneous adverse events.
Keywords: Targeted drugs, Depigmentation, Melanocytes, Vaccine, Autoimmunity, adverse drug reactions
Received: 09 May 2025; Accepted: 22 Jul 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Wang, Wang, Wang, Yan, Yue and Sun. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Yonghu Sun, Shandong Provincial Hospital of Dermatology, Jinan, China
Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.