A case of actinic cheilitis at lower lip.

We report a case of actinic cheilitis. A 74-year-old male presented with an intractable erosive lesion on the vermilion border of the lower lip. Based on biopsy results, the patient was diagnosed with actinic cheilitis and referred to our department for surgical treatment. A simple local resection procedure with direct closure was performed under local anesthesia. The surgical margin was 2 mm. Two weeks after the operation, the wound was found to have dehisced but closed with conservative treatment. Histopathologic results revealed a defective epidermis, solar elastosis in the dermis, atypical cells with swollen nuclei, and mitosis in the vicinity of the basal lamina. Two years after the operation, no recurrence was noted and there was no complaint of trismus. Since actinic cheilitis has no distinguishing features, affected patients are often diagnosed with eczema and receive conservative treatment, which is sometimes continued without further examination. However, this is a precancerous lesion with poor prognosis if malignancy develops, thus an aggressive biopsy procedure should be performed for cases with long-term lip erosion. Additionally, careful consideration must be given to the surgical protocol used for treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]