Abstract
OBJECTIVE: To develop a reliable and valid scoring system for grading skin biopsies from actinic keratosis (AK) and sun-damaged skin for use in evaluating the efficacy of skin cancer chemopreventive agents. STUDY DESIGN: A panel of dermatopathologists developed histologic criteria and diagnostic definitions for the progression of lesions from early AK to AK. The criteria were then applied to a sample of 335 histologic slides from an ongoing chemoprevention study. A 10% sample of 35 slides was reread in order to assess intrarater reliability. RESULTS: Six of the 7 criteria demonstrated high reliability (>85%). The total histologic score, calculated using the 6 criteria, was found to significantly differentiate between (blinded) biopsy location (normal, pre-AK, AK and adjacent to squamous cell carcinoma) and histologic diagnosis (normal, pre- or early AK, AK and squamous cell carcinoma). CONCLUSION: The total histologic score, having demonstrated reliability on repeated readings and validity in its association with biopsy location and histologic score, is a reliable and valid end point for judging the efficacy of agents in skin cancer chemoprevention studies. Additional interrater reliability tests utilizing larger test sets and a rigorous statistical design should be undertaken to establish its portability.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 285-292 |
| Number of pages | 8 |
| Journal | Analytical and Quantitative Cytology and Histology |
| Volume | 25 |
| Issue number | 5 |
| State | Published - Oct 2003 |
Keywords
- Actinic keratosis
- Chemoprevention
- Histology
- Keratosis
- Skin cancer
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Anatomy
- Histology