Amelanotic Primary Malignant Melanoma of the Maxilla: A Case Report

Primary malignant melanoma of the oral cavity is a rare occurrence. This tumor, compared to other malignant tumors of the oral cavity, has higher tendency to metastasize or locally invade the adjacent structures. Its most common site of occurrence in the oral cavity is the palate followed by the maxillary gingiva. Oral melanoma does not have a pathognomonic clinical manifestation and in rare cases, it may not even cause clinical discoloration of the mucosa either; in this case, it is referred to as amelanotic melanoma. Most cases of amelanotic melanomas are metastatic rather than primary tumors. The Survival rate of patients with mucosal melanoma is lower than that of patients with cutaneous melanoma. Prognosis is much poorer for amelanotic melanoma due to difficult and delayed diagnosis compared to cutaneous melanoma.
In this study, a 33-year-old white male presented to the oral medicine department of Shahed University, school of dentistry, complaining of an extensive pink-redexophytic mass on the attached gingiva of the maxillary right central incisor extending posteriorly to the maxillary right first molar. He had it for the past five months. The patient had no systemic disease and the panoramic radiograph of the patient showed no pathological lesion.