Cuaneous malignancy in albinism

Albinism is a disorder of hypopigmentation affecting the skin, appendages, and eyes. Ultraviolet light-induced cutaneous tumors are common in patients with albinism due to reduced or absent protection from melanin. Squamous c ell carcinoma (SCC) is the number one skin tumor seen in patients who are a lbinos. Although nonmelanomatous skin cancers are more common in patients w ith albinism, dysplastic nevus and melanoma present a greater diagnostic ch allenge in this group because of their hypopigmented appearance, We report 2 cases of cutaneous malignancies in patients who had oculocutaneous albini sm (OCA). The first case involves a 45-year-old man with OCA type 2 (OCA2) who developed a large SCC of the neck, The second case involves a 24-year-o ld man with Hermansky-Pudlak syndrome (HPS) who developed amelanotic melano ma. In both cases, hypopigmentation of the lesions contributed to a delay i n diagnosis. We review the clinical, diagnostic, and therapeutic concerns f or patients with albinism who have cutaneous malignancies.