What is Actinic Keratosis and what does it look like?

Actinic (solar) keratosis is the most common type of pre-cancer. They are caused by chronic, cumulative sun exposure. Actinic keratosis looks like a scaly patch of dry skin, either flesh-colored or pink, which occurs on sun-exposed areas such as the head and neck, arms, chest and legs. Patients often describe a small area of dry skin that recurs in the same place after picking it off. Actinic keratoses should be treated early, as they may lead to squamous cell carcinoma.

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