title: Primary malignant mucosal melanoma of the upper lip: a case report and review of the literature.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Malignant melanoma of oral cavity is a rare condition, accounting for 0.5% of all oral malignancies and about 1-2% of all melanomas. Oral melanomas have extremely poor prognosis with 5 years survival rate of 12.3%. The poor prognosis compared to cutaneous melanoma may be attributed to delay in reporting by patient and diagnosis, and apt to become ulcerated due to repeated trauma. The 'chameleonic' presentation of a mainly asymptomatic condition, the rarity of these lesions, the poor prognosis and the necessity of a highly specialized treatment are factors that should be seriously considered by the involved health provider.
  
  
  METHODS
  We present a case of 32 years old male of Han ethnicity with mucosal melanoma of upper lip, comparing his clinical presentation and histological findings at his first visit and following the recurrence. The patient complained of black discoloration on the left side of upper lip since 4 years which gradually increased in size and later involved the skin of the lip. Excision with 5 mm safety margin was performed but the patient presented with the similar lesion after three and half years of the treatment. So, again wide excision with 2 cm safety margin was performed followed by reconstruction of the lip.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This case provides an example of aggressive behavior of mucosal melanoma and emphasizes on the fact that any pigmented lesion detected in the oral cavity may exhibit potential growth and should be submitted to biopsy to exclude malignancy. It also exemplifies of how the time of diagnosis and the evolution of a disease could be seriously influenced by patient's behavior.
authors.affiliation: Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Norman Bethune Hospital of Stomatology, Jilin University, Qinghua Road, Changchun, 130021, Jilin, People's Republic of China. narayansharma5oo@yahoo.com.|Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, School of Stomatology, Jiamusi University, Xuefu Street, Jiamusi, 15400, Heilongjiang, China. narayansharma5oo@yahoo.com.
authors.forename: Narayan Sharma
authors.initials: NS
authors.lastname: Lamichhane
authors.affiliation: Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Norman Bethune Hospital of Stomatology, Jilin University, Qinghua Road, Changchun, 130021, Jilin, People's Republic of China. 1792717355@qq.com.
authors.forename: Jiping
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: An
authors.affiliation: Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Norman Bethune Hospital of Stomatology, Jilin University, Qinghua Road, Changchun, 130021, Jilin, People's Republic of China. strurrancy@163.com.
authors.forename: Qilin
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Norman Bethune Hospital of Stomatology, Jilin University, Qinghua Road, Changchun, 130021, Jilin, People's Republic of China. wangxr135@hotmail.com.
authors.forename: Wei
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Zhang
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D006801:Humans; D008048:Lip Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology*; D008297:Male; D008545:Melanoma / Q000473:pathology*; D009061:Mouth Mucosa / Q000473:pathology*; D009364:Neoplasm Recurrence, Local / Q000473:pathology