To report a case involving an eyelid mass that was diagnosed as apocrine carcinoma.

A 52-year-old man visited our hospital with a recurrent mass on his right upper eyelid, which had developed 4 years prior. Initially, he received laser therapy at a dermatologic clinic to remove the mass. Two years later, the mass recurred and was excised at another clinic. At the time the patient visited our institution, the lesion had developed into multiple erythematous nodules at the margin of the right upper eyelid. The results of excisional biopsy performed under local anesthesia revealed hidradenoma papilliferum. One month after excision, recurred multiple elevated nodules were found at the margin of the excision, and thus total excision of the mass and reconstruction of the upper eyelid was performed. Biopsy confirmed that the mass was apocrine adenocarcinoma. Five months have passed since the excision and no evidence of recurrence has been observed.

Apocrine adenocarcinoma is a malignant tumor of the sweat gland and is rarely found on the eyelid. Apocrine adenocarcinoma should be considered in the differential diagnosis of recurrent eyelid mass at the eyelid margin.