Are oral mucosal nevi potential precursors for oral mucosal melanoma?

The origin of oral mucosal melanoma remains controversial with oral mucosal nevi being hypothesized to be a possible precursor. The hypotheses can be supported by the characteristics shared by the nevus cells and the melanoma cells including spindle-shaped, lack of dendritic processes, lack of contact inhibition and inability to transfer the melanosomes to the keratinocytes [1].

Source: Oral Oncology - February 28, 2018 Category: Cancer & Oncology Authors: A. Thirumal Raj, Shankargouda Patil, Chandini Rajkumar Tags: Letter to the editor Source Type: research