opular belief is that skin cancer does not affect African Americans. This belief is not accurate, even
though evidence shows low incidence rates of malignant melanomas (1%-3%) and
carcinomas (1.2%-2.8%) among African Americans (23). Although there are relatively few occurrences of skin cancer in
African Americans, the outcomes of these occurrences are a significant problem. For example, while
melanomas occur 10 times less frequently in African Americans than in Whites, the average result in
African Americans is far worse than in Whites. There are two main reasons for this: one, the most
common type of melanoma found in African Americans, acral lentiginous melanoma (ALM), is more
aggressive than types found in Whites; and, two, ALM is usually detected later than other melanomas,
which results in poorer prognoses (24). Malignant melanomas occur mainly on exposed sites: palms, soles,
mucous membranes, and skin beneath nails. The two most frequently occurring carcinomas in African
Americans are squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) and basal cell carcinoma (BCC). SCC accounts for 67%
of all skin tumors and is most often located on legs. African-American males are twice as likely to
contract SCC than African-American females. BCC patients tend to be over 50 years of age, and most
BCC lesions occur on the head and neck regions. The incidence of BCC in African-American women
and White women is equal, although in general, it acts more aggressively in African Americans than in
Whites (25).
Note: No culturally sensitive printed cancer education materials for African Americans on skin cancer were received while this document was being developed. Therefore, there is no listing of printed cancer education materials for this section.
