Actinic Keratoses ("pre-cancers")

More than 10 million is generally accepted as the best current estimate of the number of Americans with actinic keratosis (AK). People with a fair complexion, blond or red hair, and blue, green or grey eyes have a high likelihood of developing one or more of these common precancers if they spend time in the sun and live long enough. 

Actinic keratosis can be the first step leading to squamous cell carcinoma and is therefore known as a “precancer.” Although the vast majority of actinic keratoses remain benign, some studies report that up to ten percent may advance to squamous cell carcinoma. This percentage does not sound very large, but it has a large impact. When it comes to squamous cell carcinomas, 40-60 percent begin as untreated actinic keratoses and may advance to invade the surrounding tissues.  Another form of actinic keratosis, actinic cheilitis, develops on the lips and may evolve into squamous cell carcinoma. The more keratoses you have, the greater the chance that one or more may turn into skin cancer. In fact, some scientists interpret actinic keratosis as the earliest form of squamous cell carcinoma.