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Related Experiment Videos

Quantifying actinic keratosis: assessing the evidence.

Ernst Epstein1

  • 1Department of Dermatology, School of Medicine, University of California, San Francisco, California 94401, USA. ernstepstein@hotmail.com

American Journal of Clinical Dermatology
|June 10, 2004
PubMed
Summary

Counting actinic keratoses is unreliable for evaluating treatment efficacy. This flawed method lacks reproducibility, hindering accurate assessment of therapies for these pre-malignant lesions. A reliable quantification technique is essential.

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Evidence-based evaluation of photodynamic therapy of actinic keratoses.

Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology·2003

Area of Science:

  • Dermatology
  • Oncology
  • Medical Statistics

Background:

  • Actinic keratoses (AKs) are pre-malignant skin lesions requiring destruction.
  • Effective management necessitates reliable data on treatment efficacy.
  • Current methods for evaluating AKs often rely on lesion counts.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To highlight the inadequacy of counting as a method for quantifying actinic keratoses.
  • To emphasize the need for a reliable technique to assess treatment efficacy and natural history.

Main Methods:

  • Review of existing literature on actinic keratosis quantification.
  • Analysis of the limitations of lesion counting in clinical studies.

Main Results:

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  • Counting actinic keratoses lacks interobserver reproducibility.
  • This unreliability renders studies based on counting fatally flawed.
  • Conclusions drawn from counting-based studies are of doubtful accuracy.

    • Conclusions:

    • Counting actinic keratoses should be abandoned for evaluating treatment efficacy and spontaneous regression.
    • A reliable method for quantifying actinic keratoses is critically needed for accurate research and clinical practice.