For African Americans, melanoma is more likely to be diagnosed
in the advanced stages of the skin cancer. While many are able
to fight the cancer, a disturbingly high number cannot.
“Overall, melanoma survival is much lower [in blacks],” said Dr.
Caroline C. Kim, Director of Pigmented Lesion Clinic at Beth
Israel Deaconess Medical Center. As it is now, one in four
African Americans is diagnosed too late to save their lives, a
statistic Dr. Kim is hoping will change with increased awareness
in the community. Last month, she paired up with The Skin Cancer
Foundation’s Road to Healthy Skin Tour. For the third year in a
row, the Tour parked its 38-foot RV outside of Cambridge and
Braintree Rite Aids, to perform skin cancer screenings and
educate participants on the benefits of early detection. “It was
a great event,” said Dr. Kim, who performed testing in
Cambridge, “everyone who came out had different skin and we had
a wide-range of people.” In five hours, the doctors performed 30
free full-body skin exams. The