An unusual case of metastatic carcinoma to the eyelid

A 46-year-old woman developed a painless nodular lesion of her right lower eyelid four years after having a right radical mastectomy for breast carcinoma. The lesion slowly increased in size over one year to involve full thickness eyelid tissue that included the margin and inferior punctum and was associated with localized loss of cilia. The clinical appearance of the lesion and its course of development suggested a primary eyelid neoplasm. Incisional biopsy revealed metastatic mammary carcinoma.