Clinical Analysis of Primary Malignant Lacrimal Sac Tumors: A Case Series Study With a Comparison to the Previously Published Literature

Purpose: To report management of a series of patients with primary malignant lacrimal sac tumors and to compare these results to the previously published literature. Materials and Methods: A total of 27 patients with pathologically confirmed primary malignant lacrimal sac lesions were enrolled into this study. Pathological classifications, clinical characteristics, various treatment modalities and follow-up time, including tumor recurrence, were documented. The outcome measures included overall survival, progression-free survival, and median survival time. Results: Among 27 eligible cases, 33.33% (9/27) of the tumor was non-Hodgkin B-cell lymphoma, and 33.33% (9/27) was squamous cell carcinoma; both were the most common tumor in this series, followed by adenocarcinoma 18.52% (5/27), then melanoma 7.41% (2/27). Treatment modalities included surgery, radiotherapy, and/or chemotherapy, the overall survival rate of 27 patients was 70.37%, with a median follow-up of 45 months (range: 7 mo–16 y), 8 patients had died from metastatic disease, but 13 patients remained without evidence of recurrent tumor. The 5-year overall survival and progression-free survival for all cases were 73.33% and 66.67%, respectively. The median survival time for 5 deceased patients with interstitial brachytherapy was 98 months, and 5-year survival rate was 60%. Conclusions: In this series, among primary malignant lacrimal sac tumors, the proportion of lymphoma had increased when compared with the previously published literature, and multidisciplinary therapy may lead to a good prognosis in the majority of patients with the tumors and patients may benefit more from interstitial brachytherapy than external beam radiotherapy.