The efficacy of radiation therapy for a malignant melanoma in the mucosa of the upper jaw: an analytic study

Malignant mucosal melanoma of the head and neck — a review

“…Cutaneous melanomas had a mean survival rate that was higher (81-85%) 11,33 than that (17.1%) for mucosal melanomas. 11,13,19,23,36,[38][39][45][46][47] The reported 5-year disease-specific survival rate is significantly better (p<0.05) for mucosal melanomas of the head and neck than for female genital or anorectal melanomas, 11,[18][19]23,27,36 which may be ascribed to the greater difficulties in diagnosing hidden foci in the genital and anorectal regions. The survival curves demonstrate a continuous decline up to 5 years, without plateau formation, and recurrences may occur even 10-15 years after the primary therapy in some patients.…”

“…33 In Japan and Uganda, for instance, it is a relatively frequent disease. 9,40,46,49 Similarly to cutaneous melanomas 33 , mucosal melanomas affect women more commonly (64%) than men, mainly because there is no male counterpart for vulvovaginal lesions. 11 At the same time, there is no gender difference as concerns the occurrence of mucosal melanomas in the head and neck region.…”

“…In a majority of the cases, radiotherapy and systemic therapy have been used as palliative modalities, though there is evidence of their occasional beneficial effect. 19,[34][35]46 Mucosal melanomas of the head and neck Mucosal melanomas of the head and neck ( Table 1 ) comprise about half of all malignant melanoma cases, 11 and > 20% of all melanomas of the head and neck. 45 The first cases in the English literature were reported in 1885 by Lincoln; since that time, over 1000 patients have been reviewed.…”

“…23,39 Because of the rarity of the disease, reports on large patient groups ( Table 2 ) with mucosal melanomas in the head and neck region are infrequent. 13,[18][19]23,25,36,[38][39][45][46][47] It is noteworthy that nearly one-third of mucosal melanomas in the head and neck region are amelanotic 19 , while approximately 10-15% of all melanomas with a hidden location are amelanotic 20 and are usually diagnosed in a locoregionally advanced clinical stage. 5 In most of the published series, the duration of the symptoms was reported to be 1-5 months.…”

“…27 There has been a dogma that malignant melanoma is radioresistant. 27,45 Some in vitroradiobiological 4 and clinical studies, 2,19,27,36,39,41,46,[52][53] however, have demonstrated that radiotherapy may have a beneficial effect in locoregional control. The clinical studies were based on the in vitroinvestigation by Barranco 4 , which revealed a large, curvy shoulder with a relatively steep terminal slope in the survival curves of three human melanoma cell lines.…”