Safety and Efficacy of Salvage Neck Dissection Following Carbon-ion Radiotherapy with Chemotherapy for a Patient with Mucosal Malignant Melanoma of Head and Neck

Mucosal malignant melanoma of the head and neck is a rare diagnosis. The safety and efficacy of salvage neck dissection following carbon–ion radiotherapy with concurrent chemotherapy are not well described, and carbon–ion radiation protocols have not been fully developed. A 77 year old woman with crT0N1M0 mucosal melanoma of the head and neck achieved a complete response following initial treatment with carbon–ion radiotherapy and concurrent chemotherapy. She was treated with salvage neck dissection for as a cervical lymph node metastasis 16 months after initial treatment. She experienced neither Clavien-Dindo Grade 3 or 4 postoperative complications nor subsequent recurrence of disease at 3 months following salvage neck dissection. Surgical specimens may be useful for future precision oncology based on the molecular biology of recurrence melanoma with poor prognosis.