Desmoplastic malignant melanoma of the palatal alveolar mucosa: Sustained disease-free survival after surgery and postoperative radiotherapy

Aggressive surgical and radiotherapeutic management or a patient with desmoplastic malignant melanoma arising from the mucosa of the oral cavity has resulted in disease-free survival of more than 2 1/2 years after diagnosis. This case represents only the tenth reported instance of desmoplastic malignant melanoma arising from the oral cavity and only the third for which survival has exceeded 2 years. Details of the clinical, histopathologic, and therapeutic features of the case are provided to augment the paucity of literature available to clinicians managing this rare disease.