Age Distribution of 4526 Surgically Excised Specimens of Eye Tumors by Histopathological Examination in China.

BACKGROUND Cumulative evidence suggests that the risk of eye tumors varies among different age groups and populations. The purpose of the present study was to assess the age distribution of eye tumors in China. METHODS In this retrospective study, the age distribution of various types of eye tumors was analyzed on surgically excised and histologically confirmed specimens obtained from 4492 patients (4526 eyes), collected between 2001 and 2017. RESULTS Of the 4526 specimens, 3156 eyes (69.7%) had benign eye tumors, while 1370 eyes (30.3%) had malignant tumors. The age-specific incidence of eye tumors was characterized by a bimodal distribution, one peak occurred at age 0-9 years (19.7%) and the other at 50-59 years (14.7%) of age. Malignant eyelid tumors were very rare under the age of 20 years, but increased to 78% of all eyelid tumors by the age of 70 years. Children aged 0-9 years old were 6.5 times as likely to have a malignant eye tumor (95% CI, 4.1-10.4) as those aged 10-19 years. The age-related variation of eye tumors was also observed in the top ten categories of both benign (p < 0.001) and malignant types (p = 0.001). CONCLUSIONS These results showed that age is a major factor determining the type of eye tumor, confirmed by histopathological analysis.