[Malignant melanoma metastasis in the oral cavity]

Malignant melanoma occurs only rarely as a primary tumour in the oral cavity, with an incidence of 1-2 percent. Oral melanomas are predominantly to be found in the hard and soft palate, and less often in the gingiva and mandible. Mucosal malignant melanomas are much more aggressive than those situated in the skin. In two-thirds of the cases the route of formation of the metastases is lymphogenic, and haematogenic in the remainder. The typical sites of the distant metastases are the skin, the lungs, the brain, the liver, and the bones. Metastatic malignant melanoma in the oral cavity, a rarity in the literature, is associated with a very poor prognosis. This paper reports on two cases in which an isolated distant metastasis developed in the oral cavity.