title: Primary malignant melanoma arising from the base of the tongue.
abstract: A rare case of malignant melanoma of the base of the tongue in a 65-year-old Japanese woman is described. The primary and metastatic tumors were treated by surgery, chemohormone and immunotherapy. There was no recurrence for 5 years after the initial diagnosis. Electron microscopy suggested that the melanosomes of the melanoma cells in the cervical lymph nodes were less mature than those in the primary melanoma cells; melanosome immaturity was consistent with a more aggressive quality.
authors.affiliation: Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Nagoya University Graduate School of Medicine, Nagoya, Japan. hayatom@tsuru.med.nagoya-u.ac.jp
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Misawa
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Yanagita
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Iwagaki
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Asahi
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Yokoi
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kato
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Qian
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Shamoto
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008545:Melanoma / Q000473:pathology* / Q000601:surgery; D014062:Tongue Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology* / Q000601:surgery