With the summer months stretching out before us, there will be plenty of opportunities to be outside. And that means exposure to the sun will increase along with those opportunities. Most people think to apply suncream to protect their skin but they don’t always think about protecting their eyelids from the sun. The eyelid area, according to SkinCancer.org is where up to 10 percent of all skin cancers happen. Most of those, 90 percent, are basal cell carcinomas (benign), just over 5 percent are squamous cell carcinomas, and 1-2 percent are malignant melanomas.
Symptoms
Since most of the tumors grow undetected at first, there are several things to look for — and note that most eyelid cancers happen on the lower lid:
- Change in appearance
- Bleeding lump or bump
- Swelling
- Sudden loss of eyelashes
- Chronic infection that doesn’t respond to treatment
- Wound that won’t heal
- Spreading, colored mass
- Flat, irregularly shaped, pigmented lesions
Treatment
Once a biopsy has been performed (where they remove a portion of the affected area to test it) and cancer has been diagnosed, a team of doctors will help you. The team usually consists of an ophthalmologist, dermatologist, surgeon, radiation oncologist and/or a medical oncologist.
Surgery can remove the cancerous tissue. In some severe cases, the eye will need to be removed and a prosthetic added, and radiation/chemotherapy treatment may be necessary to prevent cancer from causing tissue damage or spreading to the nasal and orbital cavities behind the eyes.
Prevention
Sunglasses with UVA and UVB protection, along with a wide-brimmed hat will go a long way toward preventing eyelid cancers. There is also suncream available for the eyelid with an SPF15 that can help, too. As always, regular comprehensive eye exams with your eye-care professional can help to detect cancers early, leading to faster treatment.
Next month celebrates #NationalSunglassesDay and All About Eyes has a wide-array of sunglasses to choose from! Come see us to get a head-start on prevention!