Nevus

A melanocytic nevus is a benign neoformation of the mucosa which presents as a patch, varying in colour from hazelnut brown to dark brown. It is secondary to the hyper-proliferation of melanocytes. Melanocytic nevus can be congenital or acquired and distinguished on a morpho-genetic basis as: junctional nevus (the proliferation of neoplastic melanocytes is on the epithelial-mesenchymal junction), and compound and sub-epithelial nevus (the proliferation and migration of neoplastic melanocytes is on sub-epithelial layers). Nevus in the oral cavity is rather rare, it doesn’t correlate either with males or females, and it generally occurs during adolescence. It doesn’t usually require treatment unless changes occur, like, for example, an anomalous growth, changes in the borders, pain or itchiness, any of which can indicate a malignant development (that is, melanoma).