Actinic keratosis in Colombia: first approaches

Introduction: Actinic keratoses (AK) are preneoplastic lesions secondary to chronic sun exposure, whose risk of becoming malignancy is greater than 20%. Prevalence studies of AK are uncommon. Here we describe clinical and epidemiologic characteristics of patients with AK assessed in a dermatology center from Bogota, Colombia. Materials and methods: A descriptive retrospective study was performed. Data were collected from January 2014 to July 2020. These included age at diagnosis, sex, occupation according sun exposure (inside-job, outside-job and inside/outside-job), dwelling place, Fitzpatrick phototype, anatomical location, progression time, skin cancer (SC) history and development. We used relative and absolute frequencies to describe patients. Data analysis was performed in Epi Info. Results: Of 820 patients, 61% were women. Mean age was 66 years (SD ± 12). Of all patients, 5.4 out of 10 were phototype III. The median progression time was 34 months. The 57% (n = 468) of patients had inside-jobs. The face was the most commonly affected area in 750 patients (91%). History of SC was observed in 27% of patients, and 2.56% (n = 21) developed SC, from which five cases were squamous cell carcinoma. Conclusion: Actinic keratosis may evolve into SC in a considerable percentage conversely to our study. We found that most of the patients with AK had an inside-job, which might reinforce the impact of genetic load, artificial lights exposure and the effect of protection barriers on AK development. Further studies are needed to improve clinical characteristics knowledge associated with AK