Histopathological characteristics of malignant melanoma affecting mucous membranes: a unifying concept of histogenesis

A Malignant Melanoma Associated with a Blue Nevus of the Lip

“…Malignant melanomas of the mucosa have been reported to account for about 3∼4% of all melanomas in the USA 5,6 . The head and neck regions are the most frequent sites of malignant melanoma of the mucosa.…”

“…The head and neck regions are the most frequent sites of malignant melanoma of the mucosa. The nasal cavity (31.9%) is the most common site, followed by the oral cavity (23.9%), esophagus (6.3%) and lips (2.8%) 6 .…”

Malignant melanoma of sun-protected sites: a review of clinical, histological, and molecular features

“…25 Based on current estimates in the literature, we believe that only~10% of acral or mucosal melanomas arise in association with a precursor nevus. In 55 mucosal melanomas described by Saida et al,17 no single case demonstrated the presence of an associated nevus in the lamina propria or surrounding epithelium. Similarly, in a large series of vulvar melanomas, pre-existing nevi occurred in the minority of cases (11/198).…”

“…In a case series of 55 melanomas arising on a variety of mucosal surfaces (lip, oral cavity, nasal cavity, esophagus, ano-rectal areas, genitourinary areas, and conjunctiva), the authors concluded that lentiginous growth was the prominent pattern for nearly all tumors in the radial growth phase. 17 In a smaller series of 13 mucosal melanomas from similarly diverse anatomic sites, the authors reported more varied histology, including 58% lentiginous, 23% NM, and 15% SSM. 23 A similar distribution was found among 198 melanomas isolated to the vulvar region, in which 57% were lentiginous, 22% NM, 12% unclassified, and 4% SSM.…”

“…This refers to a predominantly single-cell pattern of growth of melanocytes along the dermal-epidermal junction with minimal, if any, nests in the early stage. 17 While this is the most common pattern in melanoma from acral sites, other histologic subtypes, including superficial spreading (SSM) and nodular (NM), can arise in these regions. In previous population-based studies, ALM was described in 45-53% of cases, while NM (8-27%) and SSM (20-39%) were relatively less frequent.…”