The risk of developing melanoma is lower in people of color than it is for those with lighter skin tones. But it is more likely to be fatal when it does occur, usually because it goes undetected until it is too late to treat
Photo-Illustration: by The Cut; Photos: Getty Images Skin cancer is the most common cancer in the U.S. and worldwide, and it’s only becoming more so. The Skin Cancer Foundation estimates that the number of diagnosed new melanoma cases will increase by almost 6 percent in 2021. Even worse, many more cases will go undetected — especially in people with darker skin tones.
Dermatologist Dr. Jenna Lester, who leads the Skin of Color Clinic at University of California, San Francisco, said that her experience at medical school led her to do her own review of dermatology textbooks. “I wasn’t seeing Black skin very often in these books, apart from in select circumstances, but I wondered if I was imagining it,” she says. “Eventually, I carried out a formal study and found that roughly 20 percent of the general photos featured dark skin.
Dr. Lester attributes the high fatality rate of skin cancer in people of color to lack of education in the dermatology field and beyond. “There needs to be acknowledgement for people of color who are trying to check their skin at home for moles that they may look different or be harder to recognize than in other skin tones,” says Dr. Lester. “They may just think the warnings about moles don’t apply to them because theirs don’t look like the examples they see.
“Research can only ever be as strong as the methods behind it,” says Dr. Moulton-Levy. “If your data collection is poor, you can’t be sure of a good outcome.” The FDA has yet to approve any mole-checking apps, but a handful have been granted clearance in Europe.
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