Electronmicroscopic studies on 4 malignant melanomas

Abstract

Rare varieties of malignant melanoma occurring in the oral area will be shown in this presentation.
We observed four cases of malignant melanomas, especially their rough endoplasmic reticulum and melanosomes by transmission electronmicroscopy.
We examined the relation between the stages of melanosomes and clinical features of malignant melanomas.
The tumor growth of one case was clinically slow as compared with the other cases, and the electronmicroscopic findings revealed many melanosomes of which stages were high and few rough endoplasmic reticulums.
The tumor growth of other cases was fast. Their ultrastructures showed many melanosomes of various stages.
In the case of which the tumor growth was fastest, numerous rough endoplasmic reticulums were shown.
This study suggest that the growth of the malignant melanomas in which the stages of the melanosomes are high are slow.