Eyelid Skin Cancer

What are the characteristics of eyelid skin cancer?
What makes you susceptible to eyelid skin cancer?
What does it look like?
How is it treated?

Eyelid skin cancer affects the skin of the eyelid or an adjacent area of the face. The lower eyelid is most commonly affected. However, skin cancers may surface on the eyelid margins, corners of the eye, eyebrow skin, or adjacent areas. Eyelid cancer is common and is increasing in frequency.

What are the characteristics of eyelid skin cancer?

The most common types of eyelid cancer are basal cell carcinoma and squamous cell carcinoma. Both of these cancers enlarge locally and usually do not metastasize or spread to other body parts. If not completely removed, however, over time either type may invade adjacent structures. Basal and squamous cell carcinomas grow slowly, so early detection and treatment allows a much better chance of removing the tumor completely and permanently.

Two types of more serious and faster growing eyelid skin cancers are sebaceous cell carcinoma and malignant melanoma. Sebaceous gland carcinoma and malignant melanoma cancers may spread to other parts of the body and require prompt and aggressive treatment.

Although most eyelid tumors are benign, you will need a simple biopsy to be sure the tumor is not malignant.

What makes you susceptible to eyelid skin cancer?

As in most forms of skin cancer, fair skinned individuals are more susceptible than those with darker pigmented skin. Excessive exposure to sunlight is the most prevalent factor associated with skin cancers on the eyelids, face, and arms, but skin cancers also tend to be hereditary.

What does it look like?

Skin cancers usually appear as painless elevations or nodules. Ask your eye doctor to evaluate all new eyelid bumps or sores that will not heal. In some cases, your eyelashes may be missing or distorted, and ulcers can appear along with bleeding, crusting, and distortion of the normal skin structure.

How is it treated?

The goals in treating any type of eyelid cancer should be early detection and total removal. Most eyelid tumors can be excised (surgically removed) or removed with cryotherapy (freezing) or hyfrecation (burning). Early removal minimizes the amount of tissue affected, lessening the necessity of reconstructive surgery.

Because complete removal is necessary for malignant tumors, a surgeon may have a pathologist check the tissue margins to be sure all the cancerous cells have been removed. Additional freezing therapy and radiation are sometimes required as a follow-up to surgery. Although the area where the cancer was removed can sometimes heal itself, plastic surgery is often required to fix any defects in function or appearance. The healing process from such treatment takes anywhere from six months to a year, and follow-up visits are necessary to ensure that the skin cancer does not recur.