[New approaches for the prevention of actinic keratosis]

Actinic keratosis is one of the most common skin diseases. Because of the ongoing demographic changes, it is anticipated that the incidence will further increase. Prevention of actinic keratoses is thus of great importance. By far the most important cause of actinic keratoses is the chronic cumulative irradiation of human skin with ultraviolet B and A radiation from natural sunlight. There is no doubt that use of sunscreens is effective in preventing actinic keratoses. Recent studies indicate that in high-risk groups the regular use of medical devices which are characterized by a very high SPF and which contain liposomally encapsulated DNA repair enzymes are effective in preventing the development of new actinic keratoses even when field cancerization is already present in human skin. There is also evidence that oral photoprotective strategies based on the regular intake of vitamin B₃ may be used to prevent actinic keratoses.