Purpose: We report the incidence of malignant tumors of the eyelid in Germany between 2009 and 2015.
Methods: Data pertaining to the period between 2009 and 2015 were extracted from the German Cancer Registry. The International Classification of Diseases for Oncology-3 codes for tumors of the eyelid or canthus were used to identify incidence rates and survival probabilities. Crude and age-standardized incidence rates (ASR) were calculated by age, year, and gender and the individual federated states. Survival was calculated using the Kaplan-Meyer and Life tables methods, and COX-Regression was used to calculate hazard ratios for overall and cancer-specific survival.
Results: This study examined data pertaining to 42,710 patients who had been diagnosed with malignant tumors of the eyelid. Basal cell carcinoma was by far the most common tumor of the eyelid (87.1%), followed by squamous cell carcinoma (10.1%) and malignant melanoma (1.1%). ASRs of basal cell carcinoma, squamous cell carcinoma, and melanoma were 65.1, 7.49, and 0.83 per million, respectively. Sebaceous cell carcinoma did not appear to be of high prevalence in Germany. Cancer-specific survival was generally high, exceeding 95%. The overall survival of patients with melanoma was considerably lower than those with other cancers. Both survival rates were inferior to that of basal cell carcinoma (74.9%). Cancer-Specific survival at five years for all groups exceeded 95%.
Conclusions: The incidence rates of malignant lid tumors match that of the European countries but shows a different pattern than Asian countries.
The incidence of Basal cell carcinoma in Germany is 65.1 per million, followed by squamous cell carcinoma with 7.49 and malignant melanoma with 0.83 per million in a distribution different from east and south Asian countries.
Keywords: Eyelid malignancies; basal cell carcinoma; epidemiology; melanoma; squamous cell carcinoma.