title: Clinicopathological profile and management of 161 cases of actinic cheilitis.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Actinic cheilitis (AC) is a potentially malignant disorder of the lip caused by chronic exposure to ultraviolet radiation from the sun.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To evaluate the clinical, demographic, morphological and therapeutic management in AC cases data associating to the histopathological grading.
  
  
  METHODS
  Demographic, clinical and management data of 161 patients with AC were analyzed. In biopsied cases, two calibrated examiners performed histopathological grading by binary system.
  
  
  RESULTS
  There was a prevalence of males (79.5%), aged 40 years or older (77.5%), light-skinned (85.7%), experiencing occupational exposure to sunlight (80.3%), with AC presenting clinically as white lesions (33.6%). Conservative treatment was adopted in 78 cases and biopsy in 83 cases (60.2% graded as low-risk AC). There were no significant associations between histopathological grading and gender (p= 0.509), age (p=0.416), ethnicity (p=0.388), occupational exposure to sunlight (p=1.000) or clinical presentation (p=0.803).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This study reinforces the hypothesis that demographic and clinical characteristics of AC are not related to histopathological grading. Advice on protection from sun exposure should be encouraged to avoid progression of AC and invasive therapies.
authors.affiliation: Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte, Natal, RN, BR.
authors.forename: Maria Luiza Diniz de Sousa
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Lopes
authors.affiliation: Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte, Natal, RN, BR.
authors.forename: Francisco Leonardo da
authors.initials: FL
authors.lastname: Silva Júnior
authors.affiliation: Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte, Natal, RN, BR.
authors.forename: Kenio Costa
authors.initials: KC
authors.lastname: Lima
authors.affiliation: Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte, Natal, RN, BR.
authors.forename: Patrícia Teixeira de
authors.initials: PT
authors.lastname: Oliveira
authors.affiliation: Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte, Natal, RN, BR.
authors.forename: Éricka Janine Dantas da
authors.initials: ÉJ
authors.lastname: Silveira
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D001706:Biopsy; D001938:Brazil; D002613:Cheilitis / Q000209:etiology / Q000473:pathology* / Q000628:therapy*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D016273:Occupational Exposure / Q000009:adverse effects; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D018570:Risk Assessment; D012307:Risk Factors; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D017678:Sex Distribution; D012737:Sex Factors; D013472:Sunlight / Q000009:adverse effects