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Topical retinoic acid (tretinoin) is used extensively in clinical dermatologic practice for treating acne and reversing and preventing photoaging. Early studies evaluating the effects of tretinoin on UV-light–induced carcinogenesis have yielded mixed results. Although the findings have confirmed that tretinoin does not effectively treat actinic keratoses, clinicians have long wondered about the benefits of retinoic acid for reversing epidermal atypia and preventing nonmelanoma skin cancer. In this open-label study, investigators evaluated epidermal cellular atypia and dermal collagen thickness in 34 patients being treated for photodamage with daily application of topical 0.05% retinoic acid. The mean age of the subjects was 62, and the mean…