Retrospective clinicopathological study of 129 cancerous and 18 precancerous lesions of the eyelids in North-Western Greece.

This study aimed to present precancerous and cancerous epithelial eyelid lesions, their histopathological features, and possible correlations with clinical parameters. The retrospective study included 147 formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded samples. We studied precancerous and cancerous epithelial eyelid lesions. Preneoplastic tumors were represented by 12 actinic keratoses and 6 in situ squamous cell carcinomas (Bowen disease) and skin epithelial tumors by 119 basal and 10 squamous cell carcinomas. We recorded the clinicomorphological and histopathological features of the specimens and investigated possible correlations. In our study, the vast majority of pre-malignant and malignant tumors occurred in advanced age (mean age of occurrence: 70.18 years). The data analysis showed that inflammation in patients with basal cell carcinoma (BCC) positively correlated with advanced age (p < 0.01), tumor diameter (p < 0.05), and the appearance of ulceration (p < 0.001). A prevalence of female sex was noted in the BCC group. We also found that inflammation with or without the presence of ulceration was more commonly seen in carcinomatous lesions than in preneoplastic lesions (p < 0.05). Inflammation occurrence is present in high proportions in the tumors studied and correlates with some clinicopathological parameters such as the age of patients, the mean tumor diameter, and the presence of ulceration. The comparison between premalignant and malignant conditions showed that inflammation probability increases as we move toward the more aggressive tumor phenotypes.

Study of microvascular density and expression of vascular endothelial growth factor and its receptors in cancerous and precancerous lesions of the eyelids.

BACKGROUND/AIM: Tumor angiogenesis has been the subject of intensive research in recent years in many tumor types. Studies involving epithelial skin tumors are few to date. We evaluated tumor angiogenesis and lymphangiogenesis in cancerous and pre-cancerous lesions of the eyelids using immunohistochemical techniques. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The study included 147 formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded samples. We studied cancerous lesions of the eyelid skin such as basal cell carcinoma, squamous and basosquamous cell carcinoma and pre-cancerous lesions such as actinic keratosis and Bowen's disease. We applied immunohistochemical staining using antibodies to investigate angiogenic and lymphangiogenic molecular factors, such as vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and its receptors. We recorded the microvascular density of these tumors by using the marker CD-105, a specific antibody against endoglin protein. RESULTS: Data analysis showed that the molecular factors that control angiogenesis are expressed in high proportions in the tumors studied and that this expression is positively-correlated with tumor microvascular density. Furthermore, correlations emerged with the mean diameter of these tumors. We also found differences in microvascular density between pre-cancerous and cancerous eyelid lesions. CONCLUSION: Activation of the angiogenic molecular factors results in intratumoral and peritumoral microvascularity formation at initial tumor growth. As the tumor attains a certain size and microvascular network, some VEGF receptors appear to decrease. Tumor angiogenesis appears to be active in cutaneous malignancies of the eyelids; therefore our hypothesis of a potential anti-angiogenic therapy for the studied tumors needs investigation in future studies.