A synchronous presentation of malignant melanoma and dermatofibrosarcoma protuberans in a Nigerian female: A case report

INTRODUCTION: The simultaneous occurrence of multiple primary malignancies in a patient has been widely reported. Oral mucosal malignant melanoma is a rare lesion of the oral cavity. The occurrence of this lesion with a very rare skin sarcoma at the same time has never to the best of our knowledge been reported previously. PRESENTATION OF CASE: A 64 year-old Nigerian woman with a 27-year history of a dark lesion in the right maxillary buccal and palatal mucosa with an anterior abdominal swelling of 24 years which was discovered on systemic examination. Both lesions were later discovered to be malignant melanoma and dermatofibrosarcoma protuberans respectively. She had a right hemimaxillectomy for the maxillary lesion and wide excision of the abdominal wall lesion, followed by six courses of chemotherapy. She has been undergoing regular reviews for the past 5 years and remains free of all malignancy; however, she died shortly after noticing the reappearance of both lesions. DISCUSSION: While evaluating patients with a tumor, it will be rewarding to rule out other similar swellings in the body. This is important to avoid metastasis or multiple primary malignancies, which can help prolong patient life. CONCLUSION: The synchronous occurrence of two different neoplastic lesions is rare. Our literature search revealed no previous report of such occurrence of oral malignant melanoma and DFSP at the same time in one patient. The importance of thorough examination of patients cannot be overemphasized as concurrent lesions may be missed.