Malignant melanoma of buccal mucosa – A case report

Abstract

Melanoma is a malignant neoplasm of melanocyte origin arising from the neural crest cells. Although most melanomas arise from the skin, they may also arise from the mucosal surface. Oral melanomas comprise less than 0.2 to 8% of all melanomas with hard palate and maxillary gingiva being the most frequently involved sites. Due to asymptomatic and painless presentation diagnosis is delayed. Oral melanoma has a low survival and its prognosis is poor and worse than that of cutaneous melanoma. This article describes a case of malignant melanoma of buccal mucosa in a 45 year old male patient.