{"id":655,"date":"2017-10-18T22:05:25","date_gmt":"2017-10-19T02:05:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.melanomaeducation.net\/?p=369"},"modified":"2019-07-13T12:24:14","modified_gmt":"2019-07-13T12:24:14","slug":"oral-melanoma","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/melanomaeducation.net\/oral-melanoma\/","title":{"rendered":"Oral Melanoma"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Oral melanoma is a rare type of melanoma. Most melanoma development is triggered by unprotected skin exposure to natural and artificial UV (ultraviolet) light. Oral, however, is not among the melanomas caused by UV rays. It\u2019s a type of <em>mucosal melanoma<\/em>, which develops within mucus membranes. Areas within which mucosal melanomas are found include:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul><li>Respiratory tract<\/li><li>Nasal cavity<\/li><li>Sinuses<\/li><li>Oral cavity<\/li><li>Gastrointestinal tract<\/li><li>Transitional zone of anal canal (the line where normal skin meets the mucous membrane)<\/li><li>Genitourinary tract<\/li><li>Female genitals<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Additionally, oral melanoma accounts for 1% of all melanomas, and is most common in Asians. 80% of it occurs in the palate and upper gums. It usually affects those who are over 40 years old and is rare in people under 20. Its color ranges from dark brown to blue-black, but 5-35% can be white, red or mucosa-colored. Oral melanoma is more aggressive than other oral cancers, as well as cutaneous melanomas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Currently, medical science cannot pin down the exact cause(s) of oral melanoma, though it does have theories as to some potential ones. Among these are dentures, tobacco use and exposure to environmental chemicals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">What Should I be Looking Out For?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p><em>DermNet New Zealand<\/em> provides a convenient list of what to keep an eye out for with regard to oral melanoma:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul><li>Discoloration in the mouth<\/li><li>Painless bleeding lump<\/li><li>Ulceration<\/li><li>Ill-fitting dentures<\/li><li>Nasal obstruction<\/li><li>Nose bleeds<\/li><li>Loss of smell<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">How Does it Compare to Typical Melanoma?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Like typical melanoma, oral melanoma can be cured if it\u2019s diagnosed and treated quickly enough. However, that\u2019s usually not the case. Oral melanoma is initially asymptomatic, so the issue is that it\u2019s often unnoticed, ignored or simply dismissed as nothing of consequence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As a result, by the time many cases are diagnosed they\u2019re already too far advanced. This underlines the importance of being aware of the symptoms and what to look for.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>These photographs depict 3 different manifestations of oral melanoma:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"769\" height=\"191\" src=\"https:\/\/melanomaeducation.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/oral-melanoma.png\" alt=\"oral melanoma\" class=\"wp-image-972\" srcset=\"https:\/\/melanomaeducation.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/oral-melanoma.png 769w, https:\/\/melanomaeducation.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/oral-melanoma-300x75.png 300w, https:\/\/melanomaeducation.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/oral-melanoma-768x191.png 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 769px) 100vw, 769px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Oral squamous cell cancer is much more common than oral melanoma and is much more serious than squamous cell cancer on the skin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The bottom line is to include your mouth during self-skin exams and see your dentist or dermatologist if you notice a bump, discoloration (including white), or anything unusual.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><br><strong>*<\/strong> Additional source articles: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dermnetnz.org\/topics\/mucosal-melanoma\/\">Dermnetnz.org<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\">https:\/\/www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov<\/a>, <a href=\"http:\/\/oralcancerfoundation.org\/facts\/rare\/oral-malignant-melanoma\/\">oralcancerfoundation.org<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Oral melanoma is a rare type of melanoma not caused by UV rays. It accounts for 1% of all melanomas, and is most common in Asians. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[4,5,6,43],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/melanomaeducation.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/655"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/melanomaeducation.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/melanomaeducation.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/melanomaeducation.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/melanomaeducation.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=655"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/melanomaeducation.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/655\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1005,"href":"https:\/\/melanomaeducation.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/655\/revisions\/1005"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/melanomaeducation.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=655"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/melanomaeducation.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=655"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/melanomaeducation.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=655"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}