Background: Primary oral mucosal melanoma is uncommon. However, it is an aggressive entity, and the absence of a standardized treatment protocol makes for an extremely poor prognosis.
Methods: We described the clinical course and treatment by arterial chemotherapy of an 87-year-old patient with nonresectable huge buccal malignant melanoma. Continuous intra-arterial infusion of fluorouracil (50 mg/24 hours) and 1 intermittent weekly 10-mg shot of cisplatin were given.
Results: The patient with oral melanoma presented with a roughly 6- × 4-cm exophytic mass that was noticed on the right buccal mucosa. The buccal tumor regressed dramatically until complete disappearance of the tumor mass was achieved at 2.5 months after intra-arterial chemotherapy was initiated. In total, 2880 mg of fluorouracil and 80 mg of cisplatin were administrated. The side effects of intra-arterial chemotherapy were mild and tolerable.
Conclusion: Our data demonstrate that intra-arterial chemotherapy could be an alternative treatment for nonresectable buccal malignant melanoma.
Keywords: buccal mucosa; complete response; intra-arterial infusion chemotherapy; malignant melanoma; oral cavity.
© 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.