Abstract
Malignant melanoma of the mucous membranes is rare, and the prognosis is very poor. Treatment for this disease has not yet been established. We tried immunotherapeutic treatment for a case of amelanotic malignant melanoma, with interferon-β, and the tumor temporarily responded. The patient was a 70-year-old male with complaints of swelling, pain, and bleeding in the upper right gingiva, and swelling of the right submandibular region. On inspection, a soft irregular mass occupied the upper rightgingiva, and also the right submandibular lymph node was enlarged, and metastasis was suspected. A biopsy of the upper gingiva led to a diagnosis of amelanotic malignant melanoma. After a local continuous intraarterial infusion of high-dose interferon-β (total 118 days 35, 900×104IU), the tumor in the oral region had disappeared, and the submandibular lymph node was reduced significantly.
