What is it about ?
Actinic keratosis is the medical term for solar keratosis. The term ‘keratosis’ refers to a keratinization disorder of the skin, while the adjective ‘actinic’ means ’caused by sunlight’. This condition results in rough, scaly patches on the skin, varying in color from red to pale pink (flesh color). These spots appear on areas of the skin that have been exposed to the sun intensively for years. Actinic keratosis is considered a precursor to skin cancer.
What is its frequency?
Actinic keratosis is common in older people with fair skin. The disease develops on areas of the skin exposed to the sun. These are mainly the face, bald scalp, earlobes and backs of the hands.
Actinic keratosis is a precancerous disease, which means that the condition has a low risk (less than 1 in 1,000 per year) of developing into skin cancer. It actually develops into cancer in about 20% of people over the age of 60.
How is the diagnosis made?
Your doctor just needs to look at the spots on your skin to see if you have actinic keratosis. The first sign is a small red lesion, well demarcated, which does not cause any symptoms. This small lesion can grow several inches in size, flake off, and eventually grow to form a hard, thick layer of skin.
To be sure there is no other skin disease, the doctor may take a biopsy. To do this, he will perform local anesthesia and remove a small piece of the skin, which he will send to the laboratory for analysis.
What can your doctor do?
Above all, the doctor will want to rule out the possibility of a malignant lesion of the skin. If it is actinic keratosis, it can ‘burn’ the lesions with liquid nitrogen (cryotherapy).
The dermatologist often uses photodynamic therapy. He then applies a special cream to actinic keratosis, which makes the cells sensitive to light. After a few hours, he exposes the actinic keratosis to a special lamp and thus destroys the lesions. This treatment can be painful. Pain can also be felt the next day. Your skin condition may appear to worsen right after treatment, but this is temporary.
What can you do ?
Apply a sufficient amount of good quality sunscreen and sunscreen to prevent actinic keratosis or to delay the development of new lesions. In Belgium, a protection factor of 15 or more is sufficient. In southern countries or in case of strong sunshine, a factor of 30 or more is necessary.
Once you have developed actinic keratosis, new lesions will likely appear in the years that follow. If left untreated, actinic keratosis can develop into skin cancer. It is therefore strongly advised to monitor your skin and consult a doctor for check-up and treatment if new spots appear.
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