Metastatic malignant melanoma of the oral cavity. A retrospective study

Metastatic malignant melanoma of the oral cavity is rarely reported in the dental literature. This retrospective study identified metastatic oral lesions in 3.0% of 809 patients with melanoma treated at the National Institutes of Health between 1953 and 1989. Fifteen cases met established rigorous criteria for metastatic tumors and were reviewed for disease course and outcome. Nine white men and six white women, with an average age of 40.6 years, had cutaneous primary tumors predominantly of the trunk and head and neck region that commonly presented as moles that were enlarging, bleeding, or showing both of these signs. A mean of 4.2 years elapsed between primary tumor and oral metastasis diagnosis. Tongue, buccal mucosa, and parotid gland were the predominant oral sites. Enlarging oral masses, pigmented lesions, and nonhealing extraction sites with masses were common oral presentations. Surgery, chemotherapy, radiation therapy, and immunotherapy were used in various combinations for treatment of the primary lesion and oral metastasis. Prognosis, although poor, was highly variable.