Prevalence and treatment of palpebral neoplasms in the dog: 200 cases (1975-1983)

The prevalence and treatment of 255 eyelid tumors in 200 dogs was related to breed, age, sex, location, and tumor type. Treatment methods included cryosurgery and surgical excision. The mean age of all dogs with eyelid tumors was 9.6 years (+/- 0.2 SEM). Beagles, Siberian Huskies, and English Setters had a higher risk of tumor development, whereas the mixed-breed dogs had a lower risk. Sebaceous tarsal gland adenomas, benign melanomas, and papillomas were observed most often (88%). Malignant tumors (melanoma, adenocarcinoma, basal cell carcinoma, mast cell tumor, squamous cell carcinoma, hemangiosarcoma, and myoblastoma) comprised 8.2% of the tumors. Tumor recurrence rates between dogs treated with cryosurgery and those treated surgically were not significantly different (15.1% and 10.5%, respectively). The mean recurrence time after cryosurgery was 7.4 months (+/- 1.9 SEM), whereas it was 28.3 months (+/- 7.2 SEM) after surgical excision. Using either treatment, the long-term side effects were similar. The overall cosmetic appearance was observed to be better with cryosurgery.