Solitary Tumors of Meibomian Gland Origin and Torre's Syndrome

We examined ten patients with solitary sebaceous gland tumors of the eyelid for Torre's syndrome (sebaceous gland tumors and visceral malignancy). In all of the benign and hyperplastic sebaceous lesions, an associated visceral malignancy was noted (predominantly colonic). Only one patient with a sebaceous carcinoma had an associated visceral malignancy. Our data suggest that the presence of a solitary sebaceous gland lesion of the eyelid excluding sebaceous carcinoma is clinically significant and should warrant a thorough history and physical examination to exclude a visceral malignancy, primarily of the gastrointestinal tract. The solitary sebaceous lesions excluding sebaceous carcinoma may represent part of the histologic spectrum associated with Torre's syndrome.