Seborrheic Keratoses



Seborrheic Keratoses


Christopher G. Bunick

Amanda Zubek

Macrene Alexiades



BACKGROUND

Seborrheic keratoses (SKs) represent one of the most common presenting complaints in dermatology offices. They begin to develop around the fourth decade of life and increase in number over time. SKs can have a wide variety of clinical appearances as well as a wide variety of histologic characteristics. Treatment modalities for SKs are mostly destructive in nature, but recurrence is common.


PRESENTATION

Patients present with solitary, few, or numerous lesions, most commonly waxy or verrucous tan-brown papules or plaques.




PATHOGENESIS

The molecular pathways involved in SK formation are slowly being elucidated. In 2016, Mandinova and colleagues established that SKs have overactive Akt signaling and inhibition of the Akt signaling leads to activation of apoptotic cell death in the SKs.2 Akt inhibitors for use in SK therapy in the dermatology clinic are not currently developed. Despite the benign nature of SKs, and their lack of progression to malignancy, studies have identified that 80% of SKs have 1 mutation and 45% have 2 mutations in FGFR3, KRAS, PI3KCA, or EGFR oncogenes.2,3

Jun 29, 2020 | Posted by in Dermatology | Comments Off on Seborrheic Keratoses

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