Question: Does melanoma  occur in people of African origin ?

Context:
ALM is the most common type of melanoma amongst Asians, Africans,
ALM develops on palmar, plantar, and subungual skin, and its biology is different from that of other cutaneous melanomas, where sunlight is the major known environmental determinant
We present four albinos with histologic diagnoses of skin cancer
Four Nigerian albinos (two men and two women) with skin cancer
The sites of the lesions included the head [squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) in two patients and basal cell carcinoma (BCC) in one patient] and the upper limb (melanoma
wenty-nine patients (18 males and 11 females) with skin cancer were identified
Kaposi sarcoma associated with HIV represented 81.8 percent of KS cases found. Squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) ranked second and malignant melanoma third
Earlier studies have shown frequent mutations in the BRAF and NRAS genes in cutaneous melanoma, but these alterations have not been examined in the rare category of melanoma from black Africans.
In a series of melanomas from black Africans (n=26), only two BRAF mutations (8%) were found, both being different from the common T1799A substitution. Moreover, melanomas from black Africans exhibited mutations in NRAS exon 1 only (12%), whereas NRAS exon 2 mutations were predominant in melanomas from Caucasians. Thus, the frequencies of BRAF and NRAS mutations were particularly low in melanomas from black Africans, supporting a different pathogenesis of these tumors.
Malignant melanoma (MM) remains a pediatric rarity world-wide, but perhaps more so in black Africans. To the best of our knowledge, the current report of MM in a two-and-a-half-year-old Nigerian who had a pre-existing congenital giant hairy nevus is probably the first (in an accessible literature) in a black African child.
Malignant melanomas in black Africans are predominantly located on the lower extremities
Thus, our findings indicate that melanomas located on the lower extremities in black Africans show several features of aggressiveness; in particular, the proliferative activity was high, and p16 alterations was frequent as evidenced by loss of protein staining. Our findings also indicated that the diagnosis is delayed among black Africans.
Africans with dark skin have a reduced risk of getting all types of skin cancer as compared with Caucasians, but the ratio of their incidence rates of cutaneous malignant melanoma to that of squamous cell carcinoma is larger than the corresponding ratio for Caucasians. (
Albino Africans, as compared with normally pigmented Africans, seem to have a relatively small risk of getting cutaneous malignant melanomas compared to nonmelanomas. This is probably also true for albino and normally pigmented Caucasians.
Scant data exists on melanoma in blacks from Africa
The mean age at presentation of the 39 women and 24 men was 60.5 years (range of 30 to 85 years), with a peak incidence in the sixth decade. The foot was the most common site of disease (45 patients). Seven patients had subungual melanoma, seven had primary mucosal lesions, and in six, the primary lesion could not be found.
The poor prognosis in black patients in South Africa is the result of delayed presentation with thick primary lesions and advanced disease
The outcome of treatment in 40 black patients (27 women, 13 men; mean age 62.9 years) with plantar melanoma over a 13-year period was analysed
Delay in presentation and locally advanced disease may explain the poor prognosis of plantar melanoma in black South Africans.
Eighteen cases of malignant skin tumors seen at the University of Port Harcourt Teaching Hospital over 3 years (1984 to 1987) were analyzed for diagnoses, site of tumors, sex, and age. Seven patients (39%) had malignant melanomas affecting only the soles of the feet, while the same number had squamous cell carcinomas widely distributed in various parts of the body
Non-white populations experienced in general a much lower incidence of melanoma although there was some overlap of white and non-white rates.
Populations of African descent were found to have a higher incidence than those of Asiatic origin, but it was concluded that this was due largely to the high frequency of tumours among Africans on the sole of the foot.
Pathological features of twenty-one cases of malignant melanoma studied in the University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital, Enugu during the period January, 1974 to December, 1975 are presented. Malignant melanoma accounted for 2.4% of all tumours and 4.5% of all malignant tumours, greatest age incidence being in the fifth to seventh decades.
81% melanomas occurred on the sole of feet validating the hypothesis that the pigmented skin in Africans is resistant to malignant melanoma.
This paper reports the incidence of this lesion in association with invasive malignant melanomas of the feet and hands of Black Africans.
Follow-up data (over a 3-year period) and the histological appearances of primary lesion were studied and related in 40 Black patients with malignant melanoma.
Malignant melanoma of the skin in Blacks in formidable and sinister tumour.
The incidence of malignant melanoma in Johannesburg Black was 1,2 per 100 000 and accounted for 2% of all cancers. The largest number of cases occurred in the 50- 70-year age group and there was a female preponderance. As in previous studies, the sites predominantly affected were the foot and the hand, mainly on the plantar and palmar surfaces.
Twenty-one cases of malignant melanoma occurring in the Igbos of Nigeria have been analysed. The site of predilection is the sole of the foot. This result supports the conclusion that Negroes tend to have the disease in the non-pigmented parts.
A case of leptomeningeal melanoma in an African child of 7 years is presented together with a survey of pigmentation in the normal African brain.

Answer: Yes. Africans with dark skin have a reduced risk of getting all types of skin cancer as compared with Caucasians. The incidence of malignant melanoma in Johannesburg Black was 1,2 per 100 000 and accounted for 2% of all cancers. The largest number of cases occurred in the 50- 70-year age group and there was a female preponderance. As in previous studies, the sites predominantly affected were the foot and the hand, mainly on the plantar and palmar surfaces.
Exact answer: yes