Abstract
Although rare, malignant melanoma occurs in children. The risk of degeneration of a congenital melanocytic nevus into a melanoma is approximately 0.7%. We report a case of malignant melanoma that developed on a congenital melanocytic nevus in a 19-month-old boy. The child was treated by surgical resection, superficial parotidectomy, and modified radical neck dissection with adjuvant therapy. The follow-up has been 24 months without metastasis. Early clinical detection, fast histological confirmation, prompt surgery, and adjuvant therapy are the only means to achieve a long survival period for children suffering from malignant melanoma.
Copyright and license
Copyright © 2012 The Author(s). This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.