Cutaneous Melanoma in African Albinos: A Systematic Review

Abstract

Introduction: Cutaneous melanoma (CM) is reported rare in African albinos inspite of their non or hypomelanised sun-sensitive skin and inhabitance of high ultravoilet index environment. The precise prevalence of CM has not been established in African albinos. Aim: To highlight the frequency of CM in all histologically confirmed skin cancer lesions in African albinos. Materials and Methods: The search was conducted on 28th May 2020 and updated on 8th September 2020 for systematic review. Five databases- African Journals On Line (AJOL), PubMed, Europe PubMed Central, Google scholar and Cochrane library were systematically searched for relevant articles. Included studies were case reports and cross-sectional studies of histologically confirmed skin cancers in which African albinos were the overall subject of the study or were identified as a sub group in mixed sample with normally pigmented Africans. Results: There were 715 skin cancer lesions presenting in 556 African albino skin cancer patients. Only six CM were identified. Over 80% (22/27) of the reviewed studies reported no case of CM. Out of the six melanomas two were acral lentiginous, two nodular, while the histologic subtype was unspecified in two cases. Conclusion: The frequency of CM amongst histologically confirmed skin cancer lesions in African albinos is extremely low. Given that only a fraction of albinos develops skin cancer, authors extrapolate that prevalence of CM in the general population of African albinos is infinitesimal. Elucidating the processes inhibiting melanomagenesis in African albino could provide targets for melanoma therapy in the wider population.

Keywords

• basal cell carcinoma
• hypomelanised skin
• squamous cell carcinoma
• skin cancer