Oral mucosal melanoma: a malignant trap

Oral malignant melanoma

Malignant melanoma in the head and neck area is rare. The incidence of oral malignant melanomas of the head and neck is approximately four per 10 million populations per year. They are derived from epidermal melanocytes and are most frequently seen on the palate and maxillary gingiva. They are asymptomatic initially but become painful with progress and enlargement. Later, they are associated with ulceration, bleeding, mobility of tooth, paresthesia and ill-fitting prosthesis. The diagnosis is often delayed due to silent growth and development of the lesion. Oral malignant melanomas are associated with poor prognosis due to their invasive and metastasizing tendencies. This case report is presented to emphasize the role of a dentist in identifying the pigmented lesions of the oral cavity.

Primary Gingival Melanoma: An Important Entity

Primary melanoma of the mandibular gingiva is extremely rare. It is often misinterpreted as a benign pigmented process. The prognosis of this entity is very poor. We report here the first case of primary gingival melanoma described in the Tunisian literature about a 55-year-old smoker having cerebral and pulmonary metastases from gingival melanoma at diagnosis. Our patient underwent brain radiotherapy at a dose of 18 Gy in three sessions but he died with a decline of 3 months before starting systemic therapy. Therefore, each new case should be illustrated to make clinicians aware about the importance of the early diagnosis to improve the poor diagnosis of this entity.

A Rare and Extensive Case of Oral Malignant Melanoma involving Mandibular Gingiva

Oral malignant melanoma is an infrequent but an aggressive neoplasm of unknown etiology, seen most commonly in middle age male patients and is more frequently seen at the hard palate and gingiva. The tumor tends to metastasize or locally invade tissue more readily than other malignant tumors in the oral region. In this article, we report a rare case of extensive oral melanoma in a 55-year-old male patient, with a chief complaint of painless growth in mandibular anterior gingiva measuring about 2.6 X 1.7 X 0.8 cm and extending bilaterally till posterior mandibular gingiva and unilaterally to right buccal mucosa. The most common site being hard palate and maxillary gingiva, it is extremely rare in mandibular gingiva (less than 7%) and hence, this rare occurrence in mandibular gingiva is reported, the diagnosis of which was confirmed by histopathology and immunohistochemistry.

Oral amelanotic melanoma of the maxilla

Amelanotic melanoma is a variant of malignant melanoma comprising 2% to 8% of all malignant melanomas. The amelanotic presentation of melanoma in the oral cavity is extremely rare and has been reported only occasionally in the literature. Moreover, the lack of melanin makes these tumors difficult to diagnose than that of pigmented lesions and the prognosis tends to be poorer. Herein, we report an amelanotic melanoma involving the oral mucosa of the maxilla in a 27 year-old male.

Oral and cutaneous melanoma: similarities and differences

Melanomas are malignant lesions stemming from the disorganized proliferation of melanocytes. This condition is more common on skin, but may also be detected in mucosa, such as in the oral cavity. The aim of the present study was to report similarities and differences between oral and cutaneous melanoma.