{"id":5197,"date":"2020-12-03T18:40:35","date_gmt":"2020-12-03T18:40:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.skincancer.org\/?page_id=5197"},"modified":"2025-04-23T19:27:19","modified_gmt":"2025-04-23T19:27:19","slug":"skin-cancer-skin-of-color","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.skincancer.org\/skin-cancer-information\/skin-cancer-skin-of-color\/","title":{"rendered":"Skin Cancer in People of Color"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Skin Cancer in People of Color<\/h1>\n

[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column offset=”vc_col-lg-offset-1 vc_col-lg-10″][vc_custom_heading text=”Love Your Skin. Protect Your Skin.” font_container=”tag:h2|text_align:center” use_theme_fonts=”yes” css=””][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][\/vc_section][vc_section][vc_row][vc_column width=”9\/12″][vc_column_text css=””]It\u2019s a fact: Skin cancer affects people of all colors. Even if you have a\u00a0darker skin tone,<\/a>\u00a0always tan or rarely burn, you can still develop the disease. What\u2019s more, for people of color, skin cancer is often diagnosed later, when it is harder to treat. This includes people of African, Asian, Latino, Mediterranean, Middle Eastern and Native American descent.<\/p>\n

Simply put, if you have skin, you can get skin cancers. These include the nonmelanoma skin cancers like\u00a0basal cell carcinoma<\/a> (BCC), squamous cell carcinoma<\/a> (SCC) as well as\u00a0melanoma<\/a>. Furthermore, ultraviolet (UV) radiation from the sun can cause dangerous, lasting damage to your skin.<\/p>\n

What You Can Do: Know the Warning Signs<\/h4>\n

The most important thing to do is get to know your skin type<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0protect your skin<\/a> from the sun. Also, understand the skin cancer warning signs and what to look for<\/strong>, and where to look<\/strong>. Skin cancer on darker skin often occurs on areas that get little sun exposure, like the palms of hands, soles of feet, under and around the nails. \u00a0Check yourself monthly<\/a> and see a dermatologist once a year for a full body exam<\/a>. No matter what, if you notice anything NEW, CHANGING or UNUSUAL on your skin, contact a dermatologist.<\/p>\n

Join the #LoveYourSkin Campaign<\/h4>\n

To raise awareness about the dangers of skin cancer, we invite you to join our public awareness campaign \u2014 #LoveYourSkin<\/strong>\u00a0\u2014 focused on skin cancer education, early detection and sun protection for skin of color<\/a>.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s easy to get involved:<\/p>\n