Histological Characteristics of Basal Cell Carcinoma of the Eyelid

Abstract

Purpose: To evaluate the histological subtypes of basal cell carcinoma (BCC) of the eyelid and to determine their effect on the size, depth of invasion and need of retreatment of a nonselected patient material seen in south-western Finland. Methods: We studied the case records and the histological characteristics of BCC of the eyelid treated at the Turku University Eye Clinic during the years 1988 through 1997. The material consisted 103 patients (103 BCC tumors of the eyelid). All tumors were surgically excised. Histological slides were reviewed by a pathologist and the material was divided into histopathological subtypes. Results: In 78.3% of the cases, the diameter of the lesion was smaller than 10 mm. The most frequent histological subtype was nodular (84.5%) followed by sclerosing (5.8%), micronodular (4.9%), keratotic (2.9%) and superficial (1.9%) types of BCC of the eyelid. Only patients of the nodular subtype showed recurrences (11 cases). The size of the tumor and the depth of invasion correlated directly with each other. However, some nodular types of BCC tumors smaller than 10 mm in diameter extended to a depth of more than 4.0 mm. Conclusions: The nodular subtype of BCC should be regarded as a potentially invasive and recurrent tumor. Histopathological examination and subtyping of all BCC tumors is recommended.

Expression of matrix metalloproteinase-1, -9, -13, and tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinases-1 in basal cell carcinomas of the eyelid

“…It has been suggested that inflammation associated with the procedure contributed to the residual tumor removal, the same mechanism of action as suggested for imiquimod treatment [32,33]. As in other studies, recurrences in our study were not confined to morphea/ sclerosing primaries, but also included nodular, adenoid/ cystic and superficial/multifocal BCC types [34]. Two of the relapses, with superficial and solid type morphology respectively, had definite clear resection margins.…”

Periocular Cutaneous Malignancies: A Review of the Literature

“…A study of 103 cases of periocular BCC found that the most frequent histologic subtype was nodular (84.5%), followed by sclerosing (5.8%), micronodular (4.9%), keratotic (2.9%), and superficial (1.9%). 11 A large database of 1,295 cases of periocular BCC treated with MMS found nodulocystic (39.5%) and infiltrating (34.8%) subtypes to be the most common, although the high number of infiltrating lesions may reflect a Mohs referral bias because 32% of the tumors in the study were recurrent. 4 Histologic subtype is an important prognostic factor and should be indicated in pathology reports because nodular and superficial BCC tend to be less aggressive, whereas sclerosing or morpheaform, infiltrating, and basosquamous BCC behave more aggresively.…”

Photodynamic therapy of eyelid basal cell carcinoma

“…The main histological subtypes of BCC are nodular, sclerosing and superficial. Of these, nodular is the most frequent, with a percentage of 84.5% 15 . Sclerosing or morphea‐like BCC is the most difficult to treat, with higher recurrence rates after surgery 4 .…”