{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,2]],"date-time":"2026-07-02T11:45:49Z","timestamp":1782992749525,"version":"3.54.5"},"reference-count":25,"publisher":"Frontiers Media SA","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,2]],"date-time":"2026-07-02T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1782950400000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["frontiersin.org"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Front. Med."],"abstract":"<jats:p>\n                    Mucosal melanoma (MM) of the oral cavity, particularly involving the hard palate, is an exceedingly rare and aggressive malignancy. Due to its insidious onset and non-specific early manifestations, diagnostic delays are common. We report a unique case of a patient primarily presenting with chronic gastrointestinal discomfort. Subsequent whole-body 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography\/computed tomography (\n                    <jats:sup>18<\/jats:sup>\n                    F-FDG PET\/CT) imaging identified a hypermetabolic primary lesion in the hard palate, alongside extensive systemic metastases, which was further confirmed by histopathological and immunohistochemical analysis. This case underscores the high sensitivity of\n                    <jats:sup>18<\/jats:sup>\n                    F-FDG PET\/CT in detecting occult primary mucosal melanomas and emphasizes its critical value in the comprehensive staging and management of rare malignancies.\n                  <\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3389\/fmed.2026.1836336","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,2]],"date-time":"2026-07-02T11:10:34Z","timestamp":1782990634000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/crossmark-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Case Report: Melanoma of the hard palate presenting initially with gastrointestinal symptoms: the diagnostic pivotal role of 18F-FDG PET\/CT"],"prefix":"10.3389","volume":"13","author":[{"given":"Guangyao","family":"Yang","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Nuclear Medicine, The Affiliated Hospital of Zunyi Medical University","place":["Zunyi, China"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Ya","family":"Li","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Nuclear Medicine, The Affiliated Hospital of Zunyi Medical University","place":["Zunyi, China"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Yin","family":"Zhao","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Nuclear Medicine, The Affiliated Hospital of Zunyi Medical University","place":["Zunyi, China"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Xianwen","family":"Hu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Nuclear Medicine, The Affiliated Hospital of Zunyi Medical University","place":["Zunyi, China"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Dongfeng","family":"Pan","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Nuclear Medicine, The Affiliated Hospital of Zunyi Medical University","place":["Zunyi, China"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1965","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,2]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1","DOI":"10.1155\/2017\/9189812","article-title":"A review of the Aetiopathogenesis and clinical and histopathological features of Oral mucosal melanoma","volume":"2017","author":"Feller","year":"2017","journal-title":"Scientific World J"},{"key":"ref2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"e425","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jormas.2022.02.002","article-title":"Oral mucosal melanoma - a systematic review","volume":"123","author":"Thuaire","year":"2022","journal-title":"J Stomatol Oral Maxillofac Surg"},{"key":"ref3","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1111\/jop.70129","article-title":"Mucosal melanoma of head and neck: a rare and aggressive disease-a register-based cohort study","author":"Degerholm","year":"2026","journal-title":"J Oral Pathol 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