1.Department of Anatomic Pathology, AC Camargo Cancer Center, São Paulo - Brazil. fasoares@me.com
Primary Oral Mucosal Melanoma (POMM) is an aggressive and rare disease that involves mostly the hard palate and upper gingiva, followed by mandibular gingiva, lip mucosa, and other oral sites. POMM develops primarily between the 5th and 8th decades of life and most studies report a similar distribution between males and females. In contrast to cutaneous melanomas, the risk factors and pathogenesis are poorly understood. However, genetic profiling of mucosal melanomas have identified a number of altered genes, such as KIT, BRAF and N-RAS, suggesting that molecular pathways like the mitogenactivated protein kinase (MAPK) pathway (RAS/MEK/ERK) and the phosphotidylinositol-3-kinase-PTEN pathway (PI3K/AKT/PTEN/mTOR) might be used for potential targeted therapy.
Table 1. Classification for the mucosal melanoma of the head and neck
Cláudia Malheiros Coutinho-Camillo ; Silvia Vanessa Lourenço ; Fernando Augusto Soares
Head and Neck: Primary oral mucosal melanoma
Atlas Genet Cytogenet Oncol Haematol. 2015-01-01
Online version: http://atlasgeneticsoncology.org/solid-tumor/6647/head-and-neck-primary-oral-mucosal-melanoma