You are correct in stating that most oral cancers are not melanomas which are better known when they affect they exterior skin of the body. ALL melanomas are highly deadly, but your statement that there is no record of anyone surviving more than 22 months is just plain wrong.

Oral melanoma often is overlooked or clinically misinterpreted as a benign pigmented process until it is well advanced. Radial and vertical extension is common at the time of diagnosis. The anatomic complexity and lymphatic drainage of the region dictate the need for aggressive surgical procedures. As with all oral cancers it is finding it at such late stages that impacts the death rate so strongly.

The prognosis is poor, with a 5-year survival rate generally in the range of 10-25%. The median survival is less than 2 years. As a result of the absence of corresponding histologic landmarks in the oral mucosa (i.e., papillary and reticular dermis), Clark levels of cutaneous melanoma are not applicable to those of the oral cavity. Conversely, tumor thickness or volume may be a reliable prognostic indicator.

The relative rarity of mucosal melanomas has dictated that tumor staging be based on the broader experience with cutaneous melanoma. Oral melanomas seem uniformly more aggressive and spread and metastasize more rapidly than other oral cancers or cutaneous melanomas. Early recognition and treatment greatly improves the prognosis.

In one large study (1074 mucosal melanomas), when lymph node status was known, 30% of patients with mucosal melanomas had positive nodes. When lymph node metastasis occurs, the prognosis worsens drastically. For instance, the 5-year survival rate in patients with positive nodes is 16.4% as opposed to 38.7% in patients with negative nodes.

Those that survive longest are found as early superficial tumors, and treatment is frequently limited to COMPLTETE excision of the tumor at that early stage. Anything less allows recurrence. Chemotherapy drugs have not proven widely helpful, although there are anecdotal reports of success with interferon based therapies.

THE HARD FACTS.

*The prognosis for patients with oral malignant melanoma is relatively dismal.
*Early recognition and treatment greatly improves the prognosis.
*Late discovery and diagnosis often indicate the existence of an extensive tumor with metastasis.
*After surgical ablation, recurrence and metastasis are frequent events, and most patients die of the disease in 2 years.
*A review of the literature indicates that the 5-year survival rate within a broad range of 4.5-48%, but a large cluster occurs at 10-25%.
*The best option for survival is the prevention of metastasis by surgical excising any recurrent tumor.
* Researchers Eneroth and Lundberg state that patients are not cured of oral melanoma and that the risk of death always exists. Long periods of remission may be punctuated by sudden and silent recurrence.

That you are frustrated with lay people trying to offer help to others is understandable given your own loss. This is especially pronounced when current medicine is dealing with a disease for which cures do not exist. With the exception of the error in statistics, there is nothing wrong with your post, or even the tone of it. We all share your feelings when we are up against odds like these, whether they are due to a late diagnosis of a SCC, or the lack of medical options with oral melanomas. Our loved ones are too frequently taken away from us, and with all we know about medicine and cancer, the answers are frequently too few or non existent.