Mucosal melanomas of the head and neck

Mucosal melanomas of the head and neck, as a group, are rapidly lethal neoplasms with site-specific differences in survival. They are preponderantly thick melanomas and as a consequence can present with cervical lymph node metastasis with or without distant spread. Long-term survival is unusual to rare; 5-year survival is poor, and 10-year survival, dismal. Whether this life-consuming nature is due to a biologic characteristic or related to late discovery is unknown. Because of the accelerated course and obvious differences in epidemiology, mucosal melanomas should be considered separate from melanomas of the skin.