Can Latinos Get Skin Cancer? Yes, We Can
Key takeaways:
Jocelyn Apodaca Schlossberg, who is Hispanic, used to think that only fair-skinned people could get skin cancer.
Her mindset changed when she learned she had melanoma herself.
Now, she thinks about the gaps in the healthcare system that may keep other people of color from getting the best care.
When Jocelyn Apodaca Schlossberg first learned she had melanoma, a serious type of skin cancer, she had a hard time believing it.
She used to think only fair-skinned people who sunburn easily got skin cancer — not people like her. In summertime, her “skin tone would shift from caramel brown to mocha brown,” she says. She didn’t wear sunscreen because she didn’t think she needed to.
This mindset is common among Latinos, says Jocelyn, a 33-year-old Hispanic woman who lives in North Hollywood, California. But the reality is that the rate of melanoma in Latinos is on the rise and has been for the past 20 years.
Could her mole be cancerous, she wondered?
Jocelyn’s doctor detected her melanoma in early 2022. She saw a dermatologist about an itchy bump on her back. The dermatologist took a sample of the bump, which ended up being harmless. But the dermatologist was more concerned about a dark mole on Jocelyn’s ankle.
Jocelyn had also noticed that the mole had changed in size and grown darker over time. She had actually reached out to a healthcare provider about it 2 years earlier. But that was during the COVID-19 pandemic, which made it harder to get routine healthcare.
It turned out that the mole on her ankle was melanoma, a type of cancer that starts in skin cells that protect against ultraviolet (UV) rays and control pigmentation. A few weeks after it was diagnosed, a surgeon successfully removed the mole. And a week after that, Jocelyn had a skin graft to close the wound, using skin taken from the front of her thigh. She spent the next month elevating her leg and resting.
Now, a year and a half later, the scar on Jocelyn’s ankle is nearly flesh-colored, after going from purple to hot pink to soft pink. Her doctor caught her melanoma early, which is critical, and she has healed.
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She still has dermatology visits every 6 months, which she started after her melanoma treatment, as a routine precaution. Two skin checks ago, she had a punch biopsy to test a mole on her wrist. The biopsy left a little scar, but everything was clear.
She had an extra checkup while she was pregnant, because hormones can fluctuate during pregnancy.
“I was worried about a pretty large mole on my chest,” she says. But “the doctor said he wasn’t worried and told me to just continue to monitor it.”
Today, reflecting on the experience including the scars from her surgery, Jocelyn is philosophical. She says her melanoma-related scars aren’t that big a deal and that her ankle looks even better than she expected it to. But, regardless of how it looks, her focus is her health, she says.
“I also have a scar from the C-section I had, but I also have a beautiful, healthy baby,” she says. And she also has a clean bill of skin health.
Taking precautions, like using sunscreen
Jocelyn now wears sunscreen “every single day” on her face and checks her skin herself on a regular basis.
Since skin cancer risk can be hereditary, she urges family members as well as friends to get annual checks. She had concerns about her father, who has a large mole on his face and a long history of unprotected sun exposure. But Jocelyn’s parents had their skin checked for the first time after seeing what she went through. And, luckily, neither has melanoma or anything worrisome.
Her baby daughter also benefits from what she has learned. Jocelyn uses sunshades, hats, and one-piece swimsuits that offer full-body coverage to protect her daughter from the sun. And as soon as her daughter is 6 months old, Jocelyn will be able to apply sunscreens that contain mineral blockers like zinc oxide (as recommended) to the baby’s skin.
Her experience made her think about gaps in healthcare
Jocelyn is a professional health writer. When she was diagnosed with melanoma, she was able to research and advocate for herself. She also had good health insurance and access to world-class care in Los Angeles.
But, as she notes, she grew up covered by Medicaid and has gone through periods in her adult life when she hasn’t had health insurance. So her skin cancer experience prompted her to “think more deeply about mortality, access, and privilege” in healthcare, she says. And she wonders what might have happened if her circumstances had been different.
She started to question “the gap in skin-related education among Hispanics and Latinos, Asians, Native Americans, and Black people,” she says.
Focusing on inclusivity in dermatology
Many people think only fair-skinned individuals get melanoma and skin cancer, Jocelyn points out. And that is further complicated by the fact that dermatology is one of the least diverse fields in medicine, she says.
There are organizations currently training healthcare providers about how skin conditions look on various skin tones. And some of those organizations provide implicit bias training. There are also mentorship programs that are helping people who are underrepresented in medicine pursue careers in dermatology.
How people of color can advocate for themselves
Jocelyn’s experience has made her more aware of what other people of color may be facing when it comes to their skin health. She offers the following recommendations:
Ask your primary care doctor for a skin check when you see them for a routine physical, even if you don’t have concerns.
When you shower or change clothes, look in the mirror to check your skin for any changes or problems.
Check every part of your body for skin changes, not just the areas that are exposed to the sun. For instance, examine your back, not just your face and hands.
Be proactive and take any concerns you have about your skin to your doctor.
Be as specific as you can about what looks different about your skin, including when you noticed the change and what exactly changed.
Trust your gut.
“The first time I reached out to a doctor about the mole on my ankle, nothing was caught,” Jocelyn says. “But it felt off enough to me to mention it a second time, and that’s when the melanoma was caught.”
Tools and resources
The bottom line is that anyone can get skin cancer, regardless of skin color, age, or gender. As many as 1 in 5 Americans will develop skin cancer at some point during their lifetime.
There are many resources out there to help you learn how to examine your skin and protect your health. One of them is the body mole map from the American Academy of Dermatology, which helps you track moles and changes.
The ABCDEs of melanoma
A quick way to remember what to check for when it comes to melanoma is what’s known as the ABCDE test:
A stands for asymmetry: if a mole or lesion isn’t symmetrical, or the two halves don’t match
B stands for border: if the borders are uneven, notched, or jagged
C stands for color: if the spot has different colors or changes colors
D stands for diameter: if the mole or lesion is the size of a pencil eraser (6 mm, or about ¼ in, in diameter) or larger
E stands for evolving: if its color, shape, or size has changed, or if it’s crusting, itching, or bleeding
The CDC recommends talking to your doctor if you notice changes in your skin, a sore that doesn’t heal, or any of the ABDCEs of melanoma.
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