Actinic keratosis (also called "solar keratosis" and "senile keratosis") is a premalignant condition of thick, scaly, or crusty patches of skin. It is more common in fair-skinned people and it is associated with those who are frequently exposed to the sun, as it is usually accompanied by solar damage. They are considered as potentially pre-cancerous, since some of them progress to squamous cell carcinoma, so treatment is recommended. Untreated lesions have up to 20 % risk of progression to squamous cell carcinoma.
Progressive development of these lesions occurs when skin is exposed to the sun constantly and thick, scaly, or crusty areas appear. The scaly or crusty portion is dry and rough. The lesions start out as flat scaly areas and later grow into a tough, wart-like area.
An actinic keratosis site commonly ranges between 2 and 6 millimeters in size, and may be dark or light, tan, pink, red, a combination of all these, or have the same pigment as the surrounding skin. The lesion may appear on any sun-exposed area, such as the face, ears, neck, scalp, chest, backs of hands, forearms, or lips.
Read more about Actinic Keratosis: Classification, Incidence, Prevention, Diagnosis, Treatment, Research