Abstract

The primary malignant melanoma of the nasal cavity and paranasal sinuses is extremely rare and accounts for only between 0.6 and 2.5% of the total number of malignant melanoma at all sites. In the nose, the left side is involved in 60% of cases and the most frequent site is the septum followed by the inferior and middle turbinates. In the sinuses, the maxillary sinus is the site of origin 80% of cases, followed by ethmoid sinus. The tumors are sessile or polypoid, with variable color such as pink, white, brown or blank. Of all tumors, 10-30% are amelanotic, requiring special stains for melanin. When primary site of melanoma is mucosal origin, treatment of primary lesion is often hampered by anatomic restrictions and large size, which results from the delayed diagnosis caused by their location. We report 4 cases of primary malignant melanoma of nasal cavity with review of literature.