Addressing the Challenges of Treating Actinic Keratosis

Actinic keratosis (AK) represents one of the most common diagnoses in our dermatology practices. The incidence of AK lesions continues to rise, along with that of non-melanoma skin cancers. Numerous risk factors have now been implicated, including chronic sun exposure, history of sunburns, fair skin...

Full description

Saved in:

Bibliographic Details
Published in:	Journal of drugs in dermatology Vol. 18; no. 5; p. s160
Main Author:	Kircik, Leon H.
Format:	Journal Article
Language:	English
Published:	United States 01-05-2019
Subjects:	Dermatologic Agents - therapeutic use Disease Progression Diterpenes - therapeutic use Fluorouracil - therapeutic use Humans Imiquimod - therapeutic use Keratosis, Actinic - pathology Keratosis, Actinic - therapy Photochemotherapy
Online Access:	Get more information
Tags:	Add Tag No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!

Description
Summary:	Actinic keratosis (AK) represents one of the most common diagnoses in our dermatology practices. The incidence of AK lesions continues to rise, along with that of non-melanoma skin cancers. Numerous risk factors have now been implicated, including chronic sun exposure, history of sunburns, fair skin, advanced age, male gender, and immunosuppression. Although an individual lesion’s likelihood of progression to malignancy remains very low, AKs seldom occur in isolation. Indeed, the condition can most accurately be described as a “field disease”, with a mix of clinical and subclinical lesions present in the same region. Studies have shown that the majority of squamous cell carcinomas arise in sites of pre-existing AKs, highlighting the importance of diagnosis and appropriate management.
ISSN:	1545-9616