title: Melanoma and the differential diagnosis of oral pigmented lesions.
abstract: There are many pathologic processes that occur in the mouth which have various intraoral manifestations. The differential diagnosis of pigmented lesions of the oral cavity takes on a high degree of significance because therapy may span such a wide range from no treatment at all to massive radical resection for melanoma. A thorough understanding of pigmented lesions of the oral cavity would assist the clinician in establishing a diagnosis and subsequent treatment plan. A comprehensive review of the literature and a discussion of oral pigmented lesions including infiltrative malignant melanoma is presented.
mesh_terms: D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D006801:Humans; D007972:Leukoplakia, Oral / Q000473:pathology; D008297:Male; D008545:Melanoma / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000473:pathology; D008548:Melanosis / Q000175:diagnosis; D008875:Middle Aged; D009059:Mouth Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000209:etiology; D009062:Mouth Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000473:pathology; D009362:Neoplasm Metastasis; D009508:Nevus, Pigmented / Q000175:diagnosis; D010859:Pigmentation Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000209:etiology