An unusual intraosseous melanoma in the maxillary alveolus

A case is reported of a 31-year-old white man who presented with a solitary melanoma in the maxillary alveolus. The lesion was located between and had displaced the roots of the lateral incisor and canine and was relatively well circumscribed on radiography. No mucosal origin or potential primary lesion was found, and a marginal excision resulted in the patient remaining free from disease after 7 years of follow-up. Metastasis of melanoma to the jaws is rare even in disseminated disease, and this solitary lesion is unusual. Although metastasis from a regressed primary tumor cannot be excluded, some of the features raise the possibility that this melanoma may have arisen as a primary tumor within bone.