Abstract: The onset of actinic keratosis is associated to the inflammatory response, oxidative stress, immunosuppression, etc. Actinic keratosis is characterized by abnormal epidermal structure and poor maturation of keratinocyte. Many imaging methods also have great significance in the diagnosis. The treatments include topical drugs, ALA-PDT freezing, laser etc. The update of the epidemiology, pathogenesis, clinical and histological characteristics, diagnosis and treatments of actinic keratosis is presented in this paper.

Key words: actinic keratosis, epidemiology, pathogenesis