Clinical-Epidemiological Characterization of Patients with Precancerous Skin Lesions

Abstract

Introduction: Precancerous lesions are a group of conditions that can potentially transform into malignant lesions, and they are associated with geographic areas with higher levels of sunlight. The progressive increase in reported cases indicates an association with the also progressive deterioration of environmental conditions.

Objective: To clinically and epidemiologically characterize patients with precancerous skin lesions.

Method: A descriptive longitudinal study was carried out on patients with precancerous lesions treated in the dermatology clinic of the Miguel Enríquez Clinical Surgical University Hospital from February 2023 to February 2024. The study population consisted of 125 patients with precancerous lesions, seen in the dermatology clinic during the study period. The variables included were age, sex, skin phototype, occupation, personal and family history of skin cancer and sunburn, type of precancerous lesion, number of lesions, location and skin biopsy results.

Results: 39.2 % of the patients were over 60 years old and 53.6 % corresponded to females. 48.8 % had skin phototype II and 62 were housewives. The most frequent lesion was actinic keratosis (77.6 %). In 64 % of cases the lesion was located on the face and scalp. In 92.8 % of patients the clinical diagnosis was confirmed by histology.

Conclusions: Precancerous lesions are a frequent reason for consultation in patients over 60 years of age, with low skin phototypes, and the most common locations are the face and neck.