Pigmented Basal-Cell Epithelioma

Darkly Pigmented Lesions in Dark‐Skinned Patients

“…PBCE is reported to represent 8 to 9% of all BCE 1,24,25 . Those BCE that do occur in blacks are frequently pigmented 10 .…”

“…In a series by Bart and Schnall, all patients with solidly pigmented black or dark brown BCE had brown eyes; however, dark eyes were not helpful in differentiating PBCE from MM 24,27 . Canizares noted an increased incidence of PBCE in Indians of Central America and Columbia, where these tumors may be “the rule and not the exception.” 25 He also stated that, in some tropical regions, one‐half of all skin cancers are PBCE 17 . In El Salvador, 73–85% of cutaneous neoplasms are BCE; of these, one‐third to one‐half are pigmented 19,20 …”

“…In 1960, Smith and coworkers presented a clinical comparison of PBCE in 43 Latin American and white patients with 69 lesions 25 . He was struck by the extreme amount of pigmentation of the PBCE found in Latins.…”