Malignant melanoma of palate: A rare case

Melanoma is malignant neoplasm of melanocytes and their precursor cells. It accounts for 5% of all cutaneous cancer. 30% of cutaneous melanoma arises in the head and the neck region. The most commonly affected intra-oral sites are palate and maxillary gingiva. Since most of the mucosal melanoma are usually asymptomatic in early stages and presents as pigmented patch or a mass the diagnosis is delayed until symptoms of swelling, ulceration, bleeding are noted. Herewith we report a case of intra-oral malignant melanoma in a 30 years old female patient.