Table 2.

AJCC Staging for head and neck mucosal melanomas

T category	(Primary tumor assessment)
T3	Tumor limited to the mucosa and submucosal*
T4a	(Moderately advanced) involves deep soft tissue, cartilage, bone or overlying skin
T4b	(Very advanced) involves skull base, brain or dura, cranial nerves (IX–XII), prevertebral, carotid artery, mediastinal and masticator space
N category	(Regional lymph nodes)
NX	Cannot be assessed
N0	Negative for metastasis
N1	Metastasis present
M category	(Distant metastasis)
M0	Absent
M1	Present

Prognostic stage groups were removed from the 8th edition of AJCC

*Size and tumor thickness do not determine T stage; i.e.T3 tumors may be polypoid or flat