Case Report: Tarsal Conjunctival Lesion of the Upper Eyelid From Metastatic Neuroendocrine Tumor Leads to Adjustment of Patient’s Systemic Therapy

Introduction Less than 1% of all eyelid malignancies are metastatic lesions, most often originating from malignancies in the breast, skin, gastrointestinal tract, respiratory tract, and genitourinary tract. Metastases to the eye from neuroendocrine neoplasms are rare and generally affect the uveal tract or orbit, less commonly involving the eyelid. This report highlights a rare case of metastasis to the tarsal conjunctiva of the eyelid from a neuroendocrine tumor of unknown primary origin. Case Report A 76-year-old White man presented to the eye clinic with a red and painful right eye for the past 10 days. On examination, the patient was found to have an elevated, discolored nodule of the palpebral conjunctiva on his right upper eyelid. An excisional biopsy of the eyelid mass was performed, and the pathology report confirmed it was a low-grade neuroendocrine tumor. The biopsy results were communicated to the oncologist and the systemic treatment for his neuroendocrine tumor was adjusted based on the biopsy results. Conclusion Treatment of cancer requires interprofessional communication and coordination between multiple areas of medicine. With this patient, the identification of a metastatic lesion on the eyelid after a thorough assessment for a painful, red eye led to a change in his systemic therapy and stabilization of his disease.