Abstract

Albinism is a disorder of hypopigmentation affecting the skin, hair and eyes. Ultraviolet light induced cutaneous tumours are common in patients with albinism due to reduced or absent protection from melanin, with squamous cell carcinoma being the most common. Although non-melanomatous skin cancers are more frequent in patients with albinism, dysplastic nevi and melanoma present a greater diagnostic challenge in this group because of their hypopigmented appearance. Here the authors report a case of nevoid malignant melanoma in a patient who had type 1A oculocutaneous albinism.