Malignant Melanoma of Nasal Cavity: Case Report and Review of the Literature

Melanoma is a malignancy that involves the skin in the great majority of the cases. A review carried out in USA throughout a period of nineteen years showed that among 44,000 cases of melanoma, only 740 involved non-cutaneous and nonocular sites. Global rate of the disease was 0.041/105 subjects/year.1 Particularly, less than 10% of the melanomas arise in mucous membranes of the aerodigestive tract and one-third in the paranasal sinuses. Furthermore, less than 1% of all melanomas arise in the paranasal sinuses and, among these, one-third is amelanotic.1 No more than 40 cases are reported in the literature because of the rarity of the localization as well as of the very difficult diagnosis.