Cellular immune deficiency in black patients with basal cell carcinoma.

Skin cancer, the most common malignancy in white patients, is rare in black populations. Seventeen black patients have been diagnosed and treated for basal cell carcinoma in the past 20 years at the University of Mississippi Medical Center. Ten of them have died, six of various types of cancer. Of the seven living patients, one had two cancers at the time of study: a new basal cell carcinoma and generalized lymphoma. The majority of patients had some degree of mixed racial ancestry, with medium to light brown skin, a history of heavy sun exposure, and lesions appearing on the head or neck. Highly significant depression of cellular immunity was demonstrated in these patients by T-cell assay. Altered tumor surveillance is implied as an etiological factor in basal cell carcinogenesis in black patients.