A Black man in his fifties visited urgent care and family doctors repeatedly over a year, complaining about a lesion on his foot. Each time, physicians dismissed it as a fungal infection. By the time he reached an emergency room with a bleeding wound, his melanoma had already spread throughout his body.
This case illustrates a deadly pattern in American medicine. While melanoma occurs less frequently in people of color, they face dramatically higher death rates. Black patients have a 70 percent five-year survival rate compared to 92 percent for non-Hispanic white patients. They’re also more likely to undergo amputation after diagnosis.
The problem stems partly from a dangerous misconception that melanin provides complete protection against skin cancer. This myth influences both doctors and patients, leading to delayed diagnoses and poor outcomes. Medical education compounds the issue by featuring primarily lighter skin tones in textbooks and training materials, leaving physicians unprepared to recognize cancer in darker skin.
Acral lentiginous melanoma, which appears on palms, soles, and under nails, disproportionately affects Black patients. These cancers are typically discovered at advanced stages with worse survival rates.
The physician workforce reflects these disparities. Mohs surgery, a specialized skin cancer treatment, remains one of medicine’s least diverse fields. During some recent fellowship cycles, zero Black or Hispanic surgeons entered the specialty.
Experts argue that improved medical training, public health campaigns targeting minority communities, and increased diversity among dermatologists could save lives currently lost to preventable delays.
See: “Missed Diagnoses, Missed Opportunities: Closing the Gap in Skin Cancer for Patients of Color” (May 9, 2025)