Malignant melanoma of the oral cavity: a case report

Malignant melanoma of the oral cavity is a very rare clinical entity. We report a case of 40 year old male patient who presented with a pigmented growth in anterior maxillary palatal region. Clinical features, Histopathological findings and Immunohistochemical studies were consistent with the diagnosis of malignant melanoma. Malignant melanoma of the oral cavity has very poor prognosis, because of its rapid tendency for regional and distant metastasis and multiple local recurrences after surgical excision. Early diagnosis and aggressive treatment improves prognosis. Complete excision with adequate negative margins is the treatment of choice. Our patient was planned for surgical removal of the entire primary lesion with neck dissection for regional lymph node metastasis followed by chemotherapy with Dacarbazine. Owing to the rarity of the lesion, In this article we present and discuss a case of oral malignant melanoma in the hard palate.