Actinic cheilitis: clinical and pathologic characteristics in 65 cases

The purpose of this study was to determine the clinical and histopathologic presentation of actinic cheilitis.

A retrospective study on 65 patients attending an Oral Medicine clinic in Greece over a 10 year period. For each case the demographic, clinical and histopathologic information were evaluated.

The mean age at the time of diagnosis was 53.1 +/- 11.4 years. Thirty-nine patients (60%) used tobacco in any form. An outdoor occupation was indicated for 43 (66.2%) patients. The location of the lesions of actinic cheilitis was in all cases on the lower lip. Actinic cheilitis appeared in three forms; white non-ulcerated lesions (29%), erosions or ulcers of the lip (48%), mixed white and erosive (23%). The histopathologic characteristics included increased thickness of keratin layer, alterations of the thickness of spinous cell layer, epithelial dysplasia, connective tissue changes, perivascular inflammation and basophilic changes of connective tissue. In 11 cases (16.9%) the presence of squamous cell carcinoma was observed.

This case-series highlights varied clinical presentation of actinic cheilitis among whom a high proportion developed squamous cell carcinoma.