Eyelid Cancer Staging

Staging Eyelid Cancer

If you have just been diagnosed with skin cancer of the eyelid, your care team further evaluates your condition to determine the stage of the disease. Cancer staging describes the amount of cancer you have and whether it has spread to other parts of your body. Your cancer care team uses your cancer stage to plan the right treatment plan for you.

At Stanford, our eye specialists use the American Joint Committee on Cancer's (AJCC) system for staging eyelid cancer, as follows:

• Stage 0: Carcinoma in situ, which is a tumor that has the potential to be an invasive cancer but has not spread outside its original site.
  
• Stage IA: The tumor is 5 mm or smaller in diameter or has not invaded the tarsal plate (connective tissue supporting the eyelid), and the tumor has not spread to the regional lymph nodes or other areas in the body.
• Stage IB: The tumor is between 5 and 10 mm in greatest diameter, or it has invaded the tarsal plate. The tumor has not spread to the regional lymph nodes or to other areas in the body.
  
• Stage IC: The tumor is between 10 and 20 mm in greatest diameter or has spread into the full thickness of the eyelid, but it has not spread to the regional lymph nodes or to other areas in the body.
  
• Stage II: The tumor is larger than 20 mm in greatest diameter or has spread to nearby parts of the eye, but it has not spread to the regional lymph nodes or to other areas of the body.
• Stage IIIA: The tumor is large enough or has spread enough that the surgeon may need to remove the eye and nearby structures to get rid of the tumor, but it has not spread to the regional lymph nodes or to other areas of the body.
  
• Stage IIIB: The tumor is of any size and has spread to the regional lymph nodes, but not to other areas of the body.
  
• Stage IIIC: The tumor has spread outside the eye, with or without spread to the regional lymph nodes, and may not be surgically removed because of extensive invasion in structures near the eye. The tumor has not spread to distant parts of the body.
  
• Stage IV: A tumor of any size has spread outside the eye to distant areas of the body.
  Recurrent: Cancer that has come back after treatment, either in the eye or another part of the body.

Eyelid Cancer Treatment

Once your eye care professional confirms the diagnosis and stage of your eyelid cancer, our highly skilled cancer care team collaborates to develop an individualized treatment plan for you. Find out more about how our specialists from different disciplines work together for your eyelid cancer treatment.