Journal of AdvancedMedical and Dental Sciences Research

Oral melanoma (OM) is a preferentially rare malignant tumor originated from the proliferation of melanocytic cells. It comprises of 1 - 2% of all oral malignancies. This tumor is predominantly witnessed in the hard palate and the maxillary alveolar mucosa. Oral melanoma shows vertical and radial growth phases that makes its early diagnosis difficult. Thus its metastasis is more common.In this article we have reported about a case of a 58 year old patient who had melanoma lesion in his oral cavity. The lesion is present in the left upper gingival region.We performed biopsy for the patient and arrived at our final diagnosis. We have discussed about the patient’s history, clinical features of the lesion, histopathological features, prognosis and treatment. In this report histopathological features is been emphasized.Surgery is the ultimate goal of treatment for oral melanomas. However adjuvant therapy with dacarbazine, platinum analogs, nitrosoureas and interleukin-2 is also prescribed. The patient will however have only poor prognosis as the lesion is very aggressive. Key Words: Melanoma, Pigmentation, Spindle cells, Poor prognosis.