Histological and immunohistochemical study of the eyelid basal cell carcinomas

The eyelids represent a frequent site for numerous malignant tumors, which generally present subtle symptoms or can imitate benignant tumors. Our study was carried on 80 patients, 48 males and 32 females aged between 48 and 92 years. The patients were hospitalized in the Ophthalmology Clinic of the Emergency County Hospital of Craiova, Romania. The study was conducted over five years, between 2010 and 2014. Our study included 80 basal cell carcinomas of the eyelids, of which 48 (60%) were nodular basal cell carcinomas, 15 (18.75%) were adenoid basal cell carcinomas, 10 (12.5%) were cystic and seven (8.75%) were morpheaform basal cell carcinoma. Our study showed a moderate expression of bcl-2 marker in the nodular type of basal cell carcinoma and a high expression in the other histopathological types, thus inducing an increased malignancy comparing to the nodular type. E-cadherin was absent in nodular, cystic and adenoid basal cell carcinomas and had a moderate expression in morpheaform basal cell carcinoma. Morpheaform and adenoid types presented 20% expression of Ki67 of the malignant cells nuclei, while the cystic type presented Ki67 expression in less than 10% of the malignant cells nuclei. Due to high morbidity and increasing incidence, basal cell carcinoma of the eyelid represents an important health issue nowadays.