Clinicopathological Study of Meibomian Carcinoma of Eyelids - An Experience of Two Years in a Tertiary Care Center.

PURPOSE: Meibomian carcinoma is a rare and aggressive malignant neoplasm of the eyelids. The clinical presentation often mimics benign conditions thereby making the diagnosis challenging. The aim of the study was to analyze cases of meibomian carcinoma, the specimens of which were received, in the past 2 years in the pathology department.

METHODS: This retrospective observational study was undertaken for 2 years and included 9 patients of meibomian carcinoma. For each case, detailed history and clinical findings were retrieved from the hospital records. Histopathological examination was undertaken in all cases after preparing hematoxylin and eosin-stained slides from tissue blocks preserved in the department.

RESULTS: The mean age of the patients was 55 ± 15 years. Six (66.7%) patients were females, and the other three (33.3%) were male. Following surgery, gross examination of the specimens revealed that the mean size of the excised tumors was 2.45 ± 1.45 cm. The tumors were classified based on histopathological features according to growth pattern, cell type, and cytoarchitecture. Most cases had lobular growth pattern (5, 55.6% cases), consisted of epidermoid cells (5, 55.6% cases), and exhibited infiltrative cytoarchitecture (8, 88.9% cases).

CONCLUSION: Early diagnosis of meibomian carcinoma is important to reduce mortality from the aggressive tumor. The knowledge of clinicopathological aspects of the tumors that were biopsied in the department of pathology in the past 2 years will help in diagnosis and management of such tumors in future.