Non-melanocytic skin cancers represent an important public health problem due to the increasing incidence and the important local destructive potential. Thus, the early diagnosis and treatment of precancerous lesions (actinic keratoses) is a priority for the dermatologist. In recent years, non-invasive skin imaging methods have seen an important development, moving from simple observational methods used in clinical research, to true diagnostic and treatment methods that make the dermatologist’s life easier. Given the frequency of these precancerous lesions, their location on photo-exposed areas, as well as the long treatment periods, with variable, imprecise end-points, the need to use non-invasive imaging devices is increasingly evident to complete the clinical observations in the diagnosis and treatment of these lesions, with the aim of increasing accuracy and decreasing the adverse effects due to long treatment duration. This is the first review that brings together all skin imaging methods (dermoscopy, reflectance confocal microscopy, ultrasonography, dermoscopy-guided high frequency ultrasonography, and optical coherence tomography) used in the evaluation of actinic keratoses and their response to different treatment regimens.
非黑色素性皮肤癌因其日益增长的发病率及显著的局部破坏潜力,已成为重要的公共卫生问题。因此,癌前病变(日光性角化病)的早期诊断与治疗是皮肤科医生的优先任务。近年来,无创皮肤成像技术取得了重要进展,从临床研究中简单的观察方法,发展为真正有助于皮肤科医生工作的诊断与治疗手段。鉴于这些癌前病变的高发性、好发于光暴露区域,以及治疗周期长、终点判断标准多变且不明确等特点,使用无创成像设备辅助临床观察的需求日益凸显,旨在提高诊疗准确性并减少因长期治疗带来的不良反应。本文首次系统综述了用于评估日光性角化病及其对不同治疗方案反应的所有皮肤成像技术(皮肤镜、反射式共聚焦显微镜、超声检查、皮肤镜引导高频超声及光学相干断层扫描)。