Clinical and pathological diagnosis and comparison of benign and malignant eyelid tumors

Abstract

To assess and compare demographic and clinical features of benign and malignant eyelid tumors from 2011 to 2018 in a tertiary medical center. The study was conducted retrospectively from medical records to compare demographic and clinical characteristics and recurrence of benign and malignant eyelid tumors after obtaining institutional review board approval. A total of 428 eyelid tumors with histopathologic diagnoses were studied. Premalignant lesions were not included. The lesions were classified into two groups according to malignancy: benign and malignant eyelid lesions. Among the 428 histopathologically confirmed eyelid lesions, 373 (87.1%) were benign and 55 (12.9%) were malignant. The patients with malignant eyelid tumors had a higher mean age at diagnosis than patients with benign eyelid tumors (P=0.012). The most common benign eyelid tumors were squamous papilloma (17.7%), xanthelasma (11.5%), and epidermal cysts (11.3%). The most common malignant eyelid tumors were basal cell carcinomas (65.5%), squamous cell carcinomas (14.5%), and sebaceous gland carcinomas (7.3%). There was no relative gender predominance between patients with benign and malignant eyelid tumors (P=0.287). Benign eyelid tumors were most commonly located on the right side and upper eyelid (P=0.027 and 0.036, respectively). Malignant tumors had a higher rate of recurrence (P=0.002). Differentiation between benign and malignant eyelid lesions is important, since it may lead to cosmetic complications and serious morbidity, particularly in patients with malignant eyelid tumors.