Mucosal Melanoma of the Head and Neck: A Retrospective Review and Current Opinion

• Published in: Frontiers in surgery 2021-01, Vol.7, p.616174-616174
• Main Authors: Pincet, Laurence, Lambercy, Karma, Pasche, Philippe, Broome, Martin, Latifyan, Sofiya, Reinhard, Antoine
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: adjuvant radiation therapy; endoscopic surgical procedure; head and neck neoplasm; immunotherapy; late diagnosis; melanoma; Surgery
• ISSN: 2296-875X; 2296-875X
• DOI: 10.3389/fsurg.2020.616174

Head and Neck Mucosal Melanoma (HNMM) is an uncommon malignancy that arises in decreasing order in the nasal cavity, the paranasal sinuses, and the oral cavity. Although radical surgery followed by eventual radiotherapy is acknowledged as the mainstay treatment, patients with advanced stages or multi-focal tumors benefit from new systemic therapies. We wish to share our experience with these treatments and review the current literature. We present a case review of every patient treated in our center for an HNMM over the past 10 years, including every patient treated in our center for an HNMM over the past 10 years. We analyzed clinical characteristics, treatment modalities, and outcomes. We included eight patients aged from 62 to 85 years old. We found six MM in the nasal cavity, one in the sphenoidal sinus, and one in the piriform sinus. Six patients underwent endoscopic surgery with negative margins, six underwent radiotherapy with variable modalities. Immunotherapy or targeted therapy was given in cases extensive tumors without the possibility of a surgical treatment or in two patient as an adjuvant treatment after R0 surgery. The three-year overall survival was 50%, and three patients (37.5%) are in remission. HNMM is associated with poor oncologic outcomes regarding the concerned patients of our review, as reported in the literature. New treatments such as immunotherapies or targeted therapies have not significantly changed the prognosis, but they may offer new interesting perspectives. Our small series of cases seems to confirm that surgical resection with negative margins improves overall survival.