American Journal of Applied Sciences 6 (8): 1467-1472, 2009 ISSN 1546-9239 © 2009 Science Publications Corresponding Author: Maryam Assadat Hashemi Pour, Department of Oral Medicine, Faculty of Dentistry, Shafa St. Kerman, Iran. Member of Kerman Dental and Oral Medicine Research Center. Tel: 0983412231196/09132996183 1467 Malignant Mucosal Melanoma of the Head and Neck Diagnosed in an Iranian Population over an 11-Year Period Maryam Assadat Hashemi Pour, M. Rad, M.R. Zarei and G. Chamani Department of Oral Medicine, Faculty of Dentistry, Kerman University of Medical Sciences, Kerman, Iran Member of Kerman Dental and Oral Medicine Research Center Abstract: Problem statement: Mucosal Melanoma of the Head and Neck (MMHN) is a rare lethal disease. This malignancy accounts for half of all mucosal melanomas, occurring mainly in the nasal cavity, oral cavity and pharynx. They appear with equal gender distribution and with a peak incidence in the age range 60-80 years. The aim of this study was to investigate incidence, sex, age and site distribution of MMHN in the Kerman province during the time period from March 1991-2002. Approach: Documents and records of 52 patients with MMHN diagnosed from March 1991-2002 were reviewed. The patients were analyzed according to gender, age and location of the tumor. Data included in the present retrospective study were analyzed by SPSS13.5 statistical software, t-test and chi-square. Results: During this time period, 52 cases (25 men and 27 women) of MMHN were diagnosed. The age range was 7-84 years. The nasal cavity (55.8%) was the most affected site. The palate and upper gingiva was the most common site in the oral cavity (8 patients, 88.8%). Survivals 5 years in MMHN patients were 27% and patients with mucosal melanoma of oral cavity have an 11%, 5 year survival rate. Conclusion: Comparison between the findings of this study with the results obtained by other investigators showed a relative consistency. Key words: Melanoma, malignant, head, neck INTRODUCTION Malignant melanoma incidence has risen markedly over the past 30-40 years and continues to increase in the United States, Canada, Australia, Asia and Europe [1-4] . Malignant Melanoma (MM) that does not originate in the skin is a very rare tumor and is considered as one of the most deadly of all human neoplasms [5-8] . Primary mucosal melanomas of the upper aero-digestive tract are uncommon and represent only 1.7-3% of all primary melanomas [1-4,9,10] . The first case in the English literature were reported in 1885 by Lincoln: Since that time, over 1000 patients have been reviewed [11] . The most frequent localizations are the nasal fossae, the paranasal sinuses and the oral cavity where melanomas most often arise from the palate and alveolar ridge, buccal mucosa, lips, tongue and floor of mouth. MMHN comprise about 1-8% of all malignant melanomas [1-4,9,10] and comprise> 20% of all melanomas of the head and neck melanomas [4,10,12] . In searching the English literatures of the last 15 years for head and neck melanomas, we found very few articles that describe case series limited to mucosa of the head and neck region. Hormia and Vuori reported that mucosal melanomas represent only 0.009% of all malignant tumors is Finland [13] . Others reported that only 6.3% of all melanomas in the head and neck region are of mucosal original. According to Moore and Martin mucosal melanomas in the nasal and oral cavity account for only about 1.7% of all melanomas [14] . Another study demonstrated that oral melanomas are very rare, accounting for only 1.6% of 7500 melanomas reported [15] . Racial, cultural or geographic factors may predispose subjects to the this malignancy [16,17] . The mean age at diagnosis of patients with oral melanoma is 55 years (range, 40-70 years) [18-21] , although in some researches this malignancy appeared with a peak incidence in the age range 60-80 years [4,19-21] . A recent literature review showed the description of 14 cases of mucosal melanoma of the head and neck in a total of approximately 1000 cases of head and neck melanomas [22] . Of 14 new cases reported, only one case occurred in the oral mucosa. A high predilection was found for the palate and the maxillary gingiva with 77% of the cases reported in those sites [15,19-22] . Interestingly,