Over many centuries, treatment with sunlight or "
heliotherapy" was used in the treatment of
skin diseases. More than 3500 years ago, ancient Egyptian and Indian healers used the ingestion of
plant extracts or seeds in addition to sunlight for treating "leucoderma". Modern
phototherapy began with Nobel Prize winner Niels Finsen who developed a "chemical rays" lamp with which he treated patients with
skin tuberculosis. However, it took several decades until
phototherapy was introduced anew into the dermatological armamentarium. It was the development of
photochemotherapy (PUVA) in 1974 that marked the beginning of a huge upsurge in photodermatology. The subsequent development of high intensity UV sources with defined spectra facilitated an optimized
therapy for
psoriasis and led to an expansion of indications for photo(chemo)
therapy also in combination with topical and systemic agents. The introduction of
extracorporeal photopheresis in 1987 for
cutaneous T-cell lymphoma and of topical
photodynamic therapy widely expanded the therapeutic possibilities in dermato-oncology.