Actinic Keratosis
What exactly is an Actinic Keratosis?
UV-light damages skin cells, over time these lesions grow into actinic keratosis (orange) and if ignored, may progress to squamous cell carcinoma.
Image Credit: Biofrontera
A pre-cancerous growth, also known as, solar keratoses, “pre-cancers” or just AK’s.
Extended UV exposure damages the genetic makeup of skin cells and, over time, can cause the creation of actinic keratosis lesions. These lesions are typically small, rough patches that crop up in areas that have been frequently exposed to the sun, such as the face, chest, scalp, ears, neck, and forearms. The development of actinic keratosis lesions is important to note and track because, in ten percent of cases, they develop into squamous cell carcinoma, a type of non-melanoma skin cancer. Furthermore, AK’s developed on sun-damaged skin, these areas are at increased risk for all skin cancers.
Who Is Most at Risk for Developing AK’s?
Actinic Keratosis can be removed in the office with cryotherapy -freezing with extremely cold liquid nitrogen.
Illustration by David Klemm.
You are more likely to develop actinic keratosis if you have fair skin, had one ore more severe (blistering) sunburns as a child or teen, spent (or spend) sustained time in the sun, or have a compromised immune system.
What to Look for
Most actinic keratosis lesions begin as flat, scaly spots. They may be the same color as your skin, pink or grey. Over time, they may become harder, raised, and more wart-like.
OptiSkin’s Approach to Treating Actinic Keratosis
Dr. Markowitz believes a key component of minimally-invasive skin cancer treatment is catching skin cancer as early as possible—sometimes before the skin cancer even develops! To do this, Dr. Markowitz will often suggest a patient have actinic keratosis lesions removed with photodynamic therapy, a treatment FDA-approved for this purpose. “Photodynamic therapy gets rid of problematic cells before they ever become cancer. So, while I would still say sunscreen is the number one way to prevent skin cancer, photodynamic therapy can be an important preventative and rejuvenative strategy too,” says Dr. Markowitz.
PhotoDynamic Therapy
Photodynamic Therapy (PDT) is a safe way to treat a large area with actinic damage, such as the entire forehead. PDT is covered by most insurances. Learn more about PDT here.
Full Face Fraxel
The Fraxel Dual laser is approved by the FDA to treat actinic keratosis. While this is typically not covered by insurance, the Fraxel laser has the added benefit of revitalizing the skin, erasing sun spots, stimulating new collagen production, and is also famous for “reverse aging,” and prevention of future actinic keratosis. Learn more about laser options at OptiSkin here.
Sources
Röwert-Huber, J., et al. “Actinic Keratosis Is an Early in Situ Squamous Cell Carcinoma: a Proposal for Reclassification.” British Journal of Dermatology, vol. 156, no. s3, 2007, pp. 8–12., https://doi:10.1111/j.1365-2133.2007.07860.x.
“Red Light PDT.” Biofrontera, http://www.biofrontera.us.com/red-light-pdt/
Nourmohammad Pour, Pedram et al. “Nonablative fractional laser therapy for treatment of actinic keratosis with 3-months follow-up.” Journal of cosmetic dermatology vol. 19,11 (2020): 2893-2897. https://doi.org/10.1111/jocd.13350
Current as of: June 28, 2021
Author: OptiSkin Staff
Medical Review: Orit Markowitz, MD