Clinical examination was performed in 13 cases of malignant melanoma in the oral and maxillofacial region in Department of Oral Surgery, Sapporo Medical University School of Medicine from 1977 to 1995. Tumors were observed mostly in the maxilla and palate of the patients at the age of over 50 years old. After the recognition of the absence of metastasis, surgery could be performed, however, wide resection was not necessary. Once the biopsy was performed, the therapy could be performed as soon as possible in order to obtain a good prognosis. The clinical course of malignant melanoma in the oral and maxillofacial region was worse than that of squamous cell carcinoma, and in many cases, postoperative metastasis was found even though the primary lesion was controlled. These results suggested that the occurrence of the metastatic lesion should be carefully investigated in addition to postoperative examination for local recurrence
