A Case of Primary Mucinous Eccrine Carcinoma in the Lower Eyelid Skin

ABSTRACT

Primary mucinous eccrine carcinoma(MEC) of the skin, one of sweat gland tumor, is a rare. These tumors usually occur in one's fifties and seventies, and are characterized by the secretion of mucin that usually forms the pools surrounding the clusters of tumor cells. The common sites are the eyelids and medial canthus. Pathologically it is difficult to distinguish between primary mucionus carcinoma and metastatic cancers from breast, rectum, colon, bronchus, kidney, ovary, stomach, lacrimal glands, salivary glands, and paranasal sinuses. Therefore study for primary focus is needed. A 62-year-old mand has had a mass on left lower eyelid skin without palpable neck lymph nodes for about five years. In a fine needle aspiration, there were tumor cells floating in a mucin pool. The authors examined several tests including complete blood cell count, liver function test, renal function test, urinalysis, electrocardiography, VDRL, TPHA-S, chest X-ray, chest computed tomography(CT), neck CT, abdominopelvic CT, etc. All the tests showed the origin was the skin. It is diagnosed to primary MEC on skin. The tumor was treated by wide excision with 0.5cm in safe margin and full thickness skin graft was done. There has been no recurrence 10 months after operation.