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Rate of squamous cell carcinoma of the eyelid on the rise

Takeaway

  • The number of patients newly diagnosed with eyelid SCC rose by approximately 4%/y between 2000 and 2014.

Why this matters

  • Compared to SCC of the skin, SCC affecting the head and neck has a higher risk of metastasis to the local, nervous and lymphatic system.
  • Periocular SCC has a particularly high risk of causing severe morbidity and occasional mortality through local invasion to the orbit, the brain, eye, nose, facial bones and sinuses.
  • This is the only recent comprehensive evaluation of the demographics of eyelid SCC in England over more than a decade.
  • The increased risk associated with male sex is only present in patients aged ≥50 and has not been reported in other studies of skin SCC.

Key results

  • Between 2000 and 2014, there were 4022 patients in England diagnosed with eyelid SCC as their first SCC.
  • Mean age-standardised incidence rate was 0.63 cases per 100,000 population per year.
  • Relative risk was 1.9 (95% CI 1.5-2.3) times greater in men than in women.
  • Incidence rate approximately doubled with every decade of life over the age of 60.
  • Social deprivation quintile by income was not associated with risk.

Study design

  • Analysis of population-based national data for England extracted from the National Cancer Registration and Analysis Service (NCRAS).
  • Funding: none specified.

Limitations

  • Only the first SCC biopsied is recorded by NCRAS.
  • Patients with previous SCC were omitted.
  • Only 147 patients aged <50y were included.

References


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