Oral malignant melanoma: A rare malignancy

Abstract

Primary malignant melanoma of the oral cavity is a rare neoplasm. It is very rare aggressive neoplasm arising from a benign melanocytic lesion or de novo from melanocytes within normal skin or mucosa. It is deadly, biologically unpredictable with worst prognosis. These tumors tend to metastasize or locally invade tissue more readily than other malignant tumors in the oral region. The survival of patients with mucosal melanomas is less than for those with cutaneous melanomas. Tumor size and metastases are related to the prognosis of the disease. Early detection, therefore, is important. The paper presents such a rare case that occurred in a young patient.

Keywords

• Melanocytes
• oral malignant melanoma
• pigmented areas