title: Prognostic factors in head and neck mucosal malignant melanoma.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Primary mucosal malignant melanoma of the head and neck (HN-PMMM) is an aggressive and uncommon neoplasm. Herein, we present a series of 33 patients and the results of treatment, and aimed to determine prognostic factors in HN-PMMM.
  
  
  METHODS
  Patients who were diagnosed as having HN-PMMM in our reference hospital, between 2005 and 2014 were evaluated. Thirty-three of these patients who had follow-up data were included. Surgical margin status was extracted from the original pathology reports. Archived materials were retrieved for the histopathologic findings: ulceration, necrosis, lymphovascular invasion, perineural invasion, pigmentation, and presence of an in situ component. Mitotic activity was evaluated using phosphohistone H3 (PHH3) immunohistochemical staining.
  
  
  RESULTS
  We found an association of PHH3 mitotic activity with overall survival in a univariate analysis and to our knowledge, this is the first report among the available case series of HN-PMMM to evaluate mitotic activity using immunohistochemical staining. We also investigated the relationship between multicentricity and locoregional recurrence, which the authors believe is also a first.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  PHH3 mitotic activity can be used a prognostic factor for head and neck mucosal malignant melanoma.
authors.affiliation: University of Istanbul, Istanbul Medical Faculty Department of Otorhinolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Istanbul, Turkey. Electronic address: drcomoglu@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Şenol
authors.initials: Ş
authors.lastname: Çomoğlu
authors.affiliation: University of Istanbul, Istanbul Medical Faculty Department of Otorhinolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Istanbul, Turkey. Electronic address: beldanmdpolat@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Beldan
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Polat
authors.affiliation: University of Istanbul, Istanbul Medical Faculty Department of Otorhinolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Istanbul, Turkey. Electronic address: mehmetcelik34@hotmail.com.
authors.forename: Mehmet
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Çelik
authors.affiliation: University of Istanbul, Istanbul Medical Faculty Department of Otorhinolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Istanbul, Turkey. Electronic address: drbayramsahin@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Bayram
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Şahin
authors.affiliation: Marmara University, Department of Otorhinolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Istanbul, Turkey. Electronic address: necatienver@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Necati
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Enver
authors.affiliation: University of Istanbul, Istanbul Medical Faculty Department of Otorhinolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Istanbul, Turkey. Electronic address: nkeles@yahoo.com.
authors.forename: Meryem Nesil
authors.initials: MN
authors.lastname: Keleş
authors.affiliation: University of Istanbul, Istanbul Medical Faculty Department of Pathology, Istanbul, Turkey. Electronic address: suleozturksari@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Şule Öztürk
authors.initials: ŞÖ
authors.lastname: Sarı
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000032:analysis / Q000378:metabolism; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006258:Head and Neck Neoplasms / Q000401:mortality* / Q000473:pathology; D006801:Humans; D053208:Kaplan-Meier Estimate; D008297:Male; D000072662:Margins of Excision; D008545:Melanoma / Q000401:mortality* / Q000473:pathology; D008875:Middle Aged; D008940:Mitotic Index; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D010749:Phosphoprotein Phosphatases / Q000378:metabolism; D011379:Prognosis; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012878:Skin Neoplasms / Q000401:mortality* / Q000473:pathology; D015996:Survival Rate; D000096142:Cutaneous Malignant Melanoma
chemical_list: D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; D010749:Phosphoprotein Phosphatases
keywords: Head and neck melanoma; Mucosal melanoma; Prognosis; Radiotherapy; Surgery