What does actinic keratoses do on a cellular level to your skin?

Actinic keratosis: Actinic keratoses represent isolated areas of cellular atypia where the individual cells no longer are under the same degree of control of proliferation (cell growth). They should be looked at as "pre-cancers" since they have not yet invaded into the depths of the skin. Only about 1 per 1000 per year actually turns into a skin cancer but they are a marker of one at risk for skin cancer.

DNA damage : Actinic keratoses are areas of skin where the sun has damaged the dna and has produced cells that grow abnormally without normal growth control. They are considered precancerous and some of them may develop into squamous cell skin cancer.