While the vast majority of skin cancers occur in whites, nonwhites are not immune. A recent retrospective study showed that in whites and Hispanics basal cell carcinoma was the most frequent skin cancer diagnosis, however in blacks and Asians, the potentially more ominous squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) was more common. Also, as opposed to whites, the majority of the SCCs in blacks occurred in sun-protected areas (in particular, the anogenital region). Many of these may be related to human papilloma virus (warts), a small subset of which are know to be carcinogenic. Its important that dermatologists be aware of the potential for skin cancer in these populations, and when performing skin cancer screening they should examine sun protected areas as well as the exposed parts.

Citation

Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology
Risk Factors for Keratinocyte Carcinoma Skin Cancer in Nonwhite Individuals: A Retrospective Analysis
J Am Acad Dermatol 2019 Jan 28;[EPub Ahead of Print], KS Nadhan, CL Chung, EM Buchanan, C Shaver, S Shipman, RM Allawh, ML Hoffman, G Lim, M Abdelmalek, CA Cusack