Primary Oral Malignant Melanoma: A Case Report

Melanomas are neoplasms of melanocytic origin. They are aggressive neoplasms with an unpredictable behavior, and can involve virtually any organ of the body. Oral melanomas are very rare , usually seen in middle aged persons and have an extremely poor prognosis. Early diagnosis and prompt treatment is the key to reduce the morbidity and mortality. Oral malignant melanoma is more frequently seen on the hard palate and gingiva. Oral melano masare associated with very poor prognosis because of the tendency to metastasise or invade tissues locally more readily than other malignant tumours of the oral cavity especially in the case of a geri atric patient. Oral melanomas constitute 1-2% of all melanomas. The primary malignant oral melanoma is 0.4–1.3% of all malignant neoplasms. The prognosis is poor when considering the metastasis to the cervical lymph node as well as bony erosion of the hard palate. Overall 5-years survival rate for oral melanomas is 15–38% The surgical approach, combined with the chemotherapy, is the first choice treatment. In this case we report the diagnose and treatment of a primary oral malignant melanoma in a 50-year-old male patient .