Mucosal melanomas

The dearth of information regarding mucosal melanomas corresponds to the epidemiology of the disease. Mucosal melanomas represent less than 4% of all melanomas and pose a difficult challenge to distinguish primary lesions from nonmelanocytic lesions. Confusion with other malignant processes, such as lymphoma and angiosarcoma, is an example of the difficulties in distinguishing pathological landmarks, because mucosal melanomas frequently lack the melanin that would best characterize these lesions. As a result, incidence figures are likely inaccurate. Treatment recommendations are not standardized and tend to be individualized. This article summarizes the literature on the distribution of mucosal melanomas and the associated treatments.