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Case Reports
. 2013 Jan;17(1):113-5.
doi: 10.4103/0973-029X.110699.

Amelanotic melanoma of the tongue

M Venugopal  1 , Iv Renuka, G Saila Bala, N Seshaiah
Affiliations
Case Reports

Amelanotic melanoma of the tongue

M Venugopal et al. J Oral Maxillofac Pathol. 2013 Jan.

Abstract

Malignant melanoma of the oral cavity is a rare lesion, with an incidence of about 0.2% to 0.8% of all melanomas. Melanoma of tongue is still rarer and represents less than 2% of oro-nasal melanoma cases. We report a rare case of amelanotic melanoma of the tongue in a young man. The importance of consideration of melanoma in the differential diagnosis of oral cavity lesions is discussed since mucosal melanoma carries a bad prognosis and early diagnosis is vital.

Keywords: Lymph node deposit; primary malignant melanoma; tongue.

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of Interest: None declared.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Ulcerated lesion along the left lateral border of the tongue
Figure 2
Figure 2
Sheets and nests of tumor cells involving the dermoepidermal junction (H and E, ×40)
Figure 3
Figure 3
(a) Spindle shaped tumor cells (b) Epitheloid tumor cells with prominent nucleoli and tumor giant cells (H and E, ×400)
Figure 4
Figure 4
Immunostain for HMB-45 showing strong positivity (IHC, ×100)
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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