nts should discuss this with their doctors or seek additional opinions before treatment.
Descriptions of the most common treatment options for eyelid cancer are listed below. Treatment options and recommendations depend on several factors, including the type and stage of cancer, possible side effects, and the patient’s preferences and overall health. Your care plan may also include treatment for symptoms and side effects, an important part of cancer care. Take time to learn about all of your treatment options and be sure to ask questions about things that are unclear. Also, talk about the goals of each treatment with your doctor and what you can expect while receiving the treatment. Learn more about making treatment decisions.
Surgery is the removal of the tumor and some surrounding healthy tissue during an operation. Eye surgery is typically performed by an ophthalmologist. Different types of surgical procedures are used depending on the size of the cancer and where it is located. Learn more about the basics of cancer surgery.
Extensive surgery may result in scarring and deformity of the eyelid, enucleation (removal of the eye), and/or may cause problems with tear drainage. Talk with your doctor before surgery about the possible side effects from your surgery, including changes to your vision and appearance, as well as physical and psychological support services available to you for your recovery.
Biopsy. A surgical biopsy may remove part of the tumor (incisional) or the entire tumor (excisional). If the tumor is found to be cancerous, and the surgeon has removed a sufficient margin of healthy tissue along with the tumor, an excisional biopsy may be the only treatment needed. See the Diagnosis section for more information about a biopsy for eyelid cancer.
Mohs' surgery. This technique involves removing the visible tumor and small fragments of the edge of where the tumor existed. Each small fragment is examined under a microscope until all cancer is removed. This procedure is most often used for a larger tumor, a tumor in hard-to-reach place, and for cancer that has come back to the same place. However, it is increasingly becoming a preferred technique for removing an eyelid tumor. After Mohs’ surgery, a patient may need to undergo reconstructive surgery (see below) by an ophthalmologist or plastic surgeon trained in ocular (eye) reconstructive procedures to retain the function of the eye.
Cryosurgery. Cryosurgery, also called cryotherapy or cryoablation, uses liquid nitrogen to freeze and kill cells. The skin will later blister and shed off. This procedure will sometimes leave a pale scar, and patients may need more than one freezing procedure.
Reconstructive surgery. Many patients with eyelid cancer require reconstructive surgery. Reconstructive surgery differs from cosmetic surgery in that it is generally performed to improve eye function, although it may also be done to approximate a normal appearance. Oftentimes, multiple surgeries are done, spread out over a period of time. Cosmetic surgery is performed on normal structures for the purpose of appearance. A surgeon may use skin grafts in order to completely reconstruct the eyelid and give patients a normal appearance.
Having an eye removed
Although rare, sometimes it is medically necessary to remove the eye. Because of this visual loss, a person with one eye may have trouble with depth perception. Most people adjust to these differences, with support from the health care team.
Many people worry about what they will look like when they have an eye removed. The cosmetic surgery available today usually yields good cosmetic results. To fill the area left by the missing eye, the person is fitted for a prosthesis (artificial eye). The prosthesis will look and behave almost the same as a natural eye. For example, the artificial eye will move along with the person’s remaining eye, just not as much as a natural eye moves. Family members may be able to tell that the eye is not real, but it is unlikely that strangers will know.
If enucleation is required, talk with your doctor