Malignant melanoma of the oral cavity: diagnosis and treatment - Experience in a Mexican population

Oral malignant melanoma is uncommon, accounting for 1-8% of all malignant m elanomas. All previous papers have reported small numbers of cases or have retrospectively reviewed case reports from the literature. The following ca se reports concern malignant melanoma of the oral cavity seen at the Instit ute Nacional de Cancerologia, Mexico City, during the period of 1982-96. De mographic, clinical and histopathological data were collected. Our 15 patie nts consisted of 6 males and 9 females. The mean age was 52.6 years (range: 35 to 80 years). The hard palate was the most common area affected with 11 cases (73%). At the time of the initial examination, a pigmented mass was apparent in 100% of the patients. All our surgical cases were treated with wide resection; 8 patients received adjuvant radiation, 4 were treated with surgery alone and I case received radiation and chemotherapy before the su rgery. Local control of the primary lesion was possible in 14 of the 15 cas es. Some patients received therapeutic or elective lymph node dissection. T he median survival was 16.9 months (mean: 12.5 months). The 2- and 5-year s urvival rates were 26.6 and 6.6%, respectively. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science L td. All rights reserved.