Clinical and histopathological study of the oral multifocal melanoacanthoma: A case report.

Melanoacanthoma is a blackened mucocutaneous lesion, mainly affecting individuals with dark skin and exhibiting rapid development. Differential diagnosis includes nevus, amalgam tattoo and melanoma. This article reports a case of a 53-year-old white woman, who exhibited multiple blackened lesions on the gingiva and upper lip. After incisional biopsy, the presence of numerous melanin-containing dendritic cells distributed throughout the epithelial thickness, which were S-100 (+), were observed microscopically. Final diagnosis was multifocal oral melanoacanthoma. Follow-up for 28 months has shown appearing of more lesions in gingiva and upper lip. Therefore, the importance of differential diagnosis of oral melanoma with the group of oral pigmented lesions, and possible associated systemic diseases were evaluated. Key words:Melanocytes, pigmentation, oral mucosa, gingiva, differential diagnosis.

Head and neck cancer, quality of life, and determinant factors: a novel approach using decision tree analysis.

OBJECTIVE: The goal of the present study was to investigate health-related quality of life (HRQoL) and oral health-related quality of life (OHRQoL) in patients under treatment for head and neck cancer and to identify the associated factors. STUDY DESIGN: A cross-sectional study was conducted with 102 patients undergoing treatment for head and neck cancer at 2 medical centers. Participants answered a sociodemographic questionnaire and the Brazilian versions of the Medical Outcomes Study 36 (SF-36) and the Oral Health Impact Profile (OHIP-14) questionnaires to assess HRQoL and OHRQoL, respectively. Clinical aspects, cancer staging, and treatment approach were also investigated. Descriptive and multivariate analyses were performed by using decision tree analysis with the Chi-square Automatic Interaction Detector (CHAID) algorithm. RESULTS: The decision tree revealed that reduced quality of life is associated with the clinical staging (adjusted P value = .035), patient's gender (adjusted P value = .028), and treatment approach (adjusted P value = .032). Female patients who are diagnosed with advanced head and neck cancer and undergo radiotherapy or chemotherapy are more likely to exhibit lower rates of quality of life. CONCLUSIONS: The results suggested that sociodemographic characteristics, clinical staging, and treatment approach can exert a significant influence on the quality of life of patients with head and neck cancer.