Skin cancer can affect the thin eyelid skin as well as anywhere else on the body. The most common type is basal cell cancer, representing about 90% of all eyelid skin cancers. Others include squamous cell cancer and even melanomas. Signs of concern include: chronic redness, a nodular growth, ulcerated growth, indentation of the eyelid, missing eyelashes, a darkly or unevenly pigmented growth, uneven bordered growth, bleeding growth, and enlarging size. Shown is a patient with a new nodular growth of the lower eyelids (seen at arrow). There were no missing lashes, but there was some chronic redness and a slight indentation near the sight. The biopsy came back as a basosquamous cell carcinoma. Mohs excision by a specialized dermatologist has arguably given the highest success rate for tumor removal with the benefit of the smallest surgery required to get the cancer out. Dr. John Burroughs works closely with several local Mohs surgeons to coordinate reconstruction. When in doubt, it is always best to biopsy any new skin lesion.
