Oral metastasis of ciliary body melanoma. A case report

Metastases of melanoma rarely occur in the oral cavity, and very few reports have been published. They are chiefly localized in the tonsil, tongue and lip, regardless of the primary site of the neoplasm. A 76-year-old woman presented a brownish berry-shaped floating neoformation at the upper lip, for which she was hospitalized at the Maxillofacial Surgery Unit, Italian Stomatologic Institute, Milan. Medical history revealed that 6 years previously, in 1998, she underwent enucleation of the right eye due to the presence of a melanoma of the ciliary body. The labial neoplasm was removed and at histological examination it was found to be a spindle cell melanoma with numerous melanophages containing granules of melanin. Both the spindle cells and the melanophages were strongly positive for HMB-45 and for S-100. Thus, the presence of melanic neoplasia at an unusual site together with the medical history of melanoma at the ciliary body, removed 6 years previously, indicated a diagnosis of labial metastasis of melanoma of the ciliary body and the patient was therefore transferred to the Oncology Unit for appropriate treatment.