Rare presentations of basal cell carcinoma.
BACKGROUND
Even though basal cell carcinomas (BCC) are the most common skin cancers in the world, they rarely appear in the African-American, Hispanic, and Asian populations. BCCs most commonly present on the head and neck of elderly, light-skinned individuals who have received an excessive amount of sun exposure. However, it has been hypothesized that the development of BCCs in unusual populations is a result of an alteration in tumor surveillance or an impairment in cellular immunity.


OBJECTIVE
We present two cases of BCC, one in an Asian woman and one in an African-American woman. Neither of these patients had any history of genodermatoses or were immunocompromised.


CONCLUSIONS
BCCs can occur in Asian and African-American patients. Clinicians should include the diagnosis of BCC in their differential for these patients despite their rare presentations.
Nouri
Keyvan
K
Department of Dermatology and Cutaneous Surgery, University of Miami, Miami, Florida 33136, USA. knouri@med.miami.edu
Romanelli
Paolo
P
Trent
Jennifer T
JT
Javid
Roya
R
Jimenez
Gloria
G
D000328:Adult; D044466:Asian People; D044383:Black People; D002280:Basal Cell Carcinoma / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000209:etiology / Q000473:pathology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D012878:Skin Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000209:etiology / Q000473:pathology*; D014466:Ultraviolet Rays / Q000009:adverse effects; D001741:Black or African American