Oral Mucosal Melanoma: clinico-pathological analysis of 30 cases in a single center

Abstract

Introduction: Oral mucosa melanoma (OMM) is a rare and aggressive disease comprising 0.26% of all head and neck malignant neoplasms. Affected individuals usually present younger than the other individuals with mucosal melanoma. Surgical treatment with extensive surgical resection was defended as the primary treatment modality, with increasing consideration for postoperative radiotherapy. Objective: The objective of this retrospective study with 30 subjects treated at the A.C. Camargo Cancer Center from 1954 to 2014 was to analyze the characteristics and treatments related to the tumor that could be identified as risk factors for the prognosis and consequently the overall survival. Materials and Methods: The data collected were analyzed by the STATA v.12.0 program and the Kaplan-Meier curves and the log rank test were used to compare the survival curves. Of the 30 cases of oral melanoma, 56.7% (17) were men and 43.3% (13) women with a mean age of 59.7% (19 to 88 years). Regarding the symptomatology in the moment of diagnosis, 53.3% (16) of the individuals denied pain and 60% (18) bleeding. Results: Considering the morphological aspects of the lesions, it was observed that 43.3% (13) had a non-ulcerated surface, 93.3% (28) were pigmented and 63.3% (19) were nodular type. From all cases, 33.3% (10) were classified as T3 tumors and 66.7% (20), as T4. Fifty-six point seven percent (17) of the lesions had slow growth and 46.6% (14) of the individuals had palpable lymph node at the time of diagnosis. Twenty three patients (76.7%) underwent radical surgery; 16.7% (5) only cryotherapy and 6.6% (2) chemotherapy. Conclusion: In this study we observed 23 recurrences and identified as significant factors for survival: ulceration, the T stage, the presence of N+ and the modality of therapy.