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.
Department of Pathology, University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, USA.
J G
JG
Batsakis
P
P
Suarez
A K
AK
El-Naggar
D006801:Humans; D008545:Melanoma / Q000473:pathology*; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D009960:Oropharynx / Q000473:pathology*; D010255:Paranasal Sinus Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology*