[Sebaceous gland carcinoma of the eyelids]

Sebaceous gland carcinoma is considered a relatively rare tumor and represents approximately 1 and 5% of all eyelid tumors. These tumors usually arise in the Meibomian glands of tarsus, in the Zeis glands, and the sebaceous glands of caruncle or eyebrow. In some instances it had multicentric origin, while in other cases the initial location was unable to be determined. It occurs more frequently in women than in men and presentation age varies from 50 to 90 years. Clinical diagnosis is difficult because is can be confused with chalazion, blepharoconjunctivitis, conjunctivitis, and basocellular carcinoma. Sebaceous gland carcinoma could go unnoticed; thus, it is necessary to carry out excision of conjunctiva as well as to inform the pathologist of the possibility of malignancy, because pagetoide spread can be easily incorrectly interpreted or not observed even by expert pathologists (up to 50%). Five-years mortality has been estimated at 30% due delayed diagnosis and treatment. The present work intends to describe incidence, and clinical and histopathologic presentation of sebaceous gland carcinoma during the last 40 years at the Dr. Luis Sanchez Bulnes Hospital, Association to Prevent Blindness in Mexico, as well as to review treatment modalities forecast for this entity.