Skin Cancer, Back to Basics: Actinic Keratosis

Actinic keratoses (AKs) are rough, scaly papules or plaques on sun-exposed areas of the body that may progress to squamous cell carcinoma. AKs are extremely common, with the highest incidence in individuals living close to the equator. Risk factors for AKs include advanced age, fair skin, male gender, baldness in men, immunosuppression, and chronic sun exposure. Many effective therapies for individual AKs exist; however, underlying field cancerization—a mix of clinical and subclinical lesions—must be addressed for treatment to be successful. Nurses can play a pivotal role in empowering and educating their patients to make the right choices to keep their skin healthy and cancer-free for years to come.
Source: JDNA: Journal of the Dermatology Nurses Association - Category: Dermatology Tags: FEATURE ARTICLES Source Type: research