Eyelid Carcinoma in Patients with Systemic Lymphoma

PURPOSE: To describe a series of patients with Non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma (NHL) and concomitant eyelid carcinoma. METHODS: In this non-comparative interventional case series, we retrospectively reviewed the medical records of 5 patients with NHL who developed eyelid carcinoma. RESULTS: The patients included one female and four male subjects. Systemic lymphoma had been diagnosed 1 to 72 months prior to development of the eyelid carcinoma. The lesions were basal cell carcinoma in three, and squamous cell carcinoma in two cases. The lymphoma was advanced (stage III or IV) in all patients. Four patients underwent surgical excision of the carcinoma and one patient was awaiting surgical treatment after completing systemic chemotherapy. Three subjects had high-grade carcinomas. Two patients had perineural invasion; one received adjuvant radiotherapy postoperatively but the other did not due to receiving systemic chemotherapy for recurrent NHL. CONCLUSIONS: Systemic lymphoma may be associated with aggressive eyelid carcinomas. Perineural invasion is frequently encountered in this situation and should be treated with adjuvant radiation therapy to decrease the likelihood of local recurrence.