Radiotherapy for localized sebaceous carcinoma of the eyelid: a retrospective analysis of 83 patients

The current study retrospectively analyzed the results of radiotherapy for clinically localized sebaceous carcinoma of the eyelid.We reviewed records of 83 patients with histologically confirmed sebaceous carcinoma who were treated radiotherapeutically between 1983 and 2015. Sixty-five patients (78%) were initially treated with radiotherapy of curative intent, while the remaining 18 patients underwent postoperative radiotherapy due to tumor recurrence or positive surgical margins. Thirty-seven patients belonged to T1–2, while 46 belonged to T3–4. All 83 patients were treated with radiotherapy with a median radiation dose of 60 Gy. The median follow-up period was 92.1 months (range, 2.8–310.3 months). At the time of analysis, 13 patients (15.1%) died, and 36 patients (43.3%) had local recurrence. The 7-year overall survival, freedom from neck lymph node recurrence, and local control (LC) rates for all patients were 83.5%, 75.5%, and 52.3%, respectively. Patients with a tumor size ≤10 mm had a higher 7-year LC rate than those with a tumor size >10 mm (58.8% vs 46.6%, P = 0.054). Neck lymph node recurrence was observed in 17 patients (20%) and significantly related to the tumor size. Late toxicity of an eyelid dysfunction of grade 3 was observed in 1 patient with T3 tumor. Radiotherapy for sebaceous carcinoma of the eyelid is a reasonable alternative to surgical resection for tumors <10 mm in size with few severe complications, while larger tumors should be treated with surgery if feasible.