Conjunctival squamous cell carcinoma associated with human papillomavirus

Abstract

Conjunctival squamous cell carcinoma is a rare malignant tumor of the adnexa of the eye. It is associated with multiple risk factors, including infection with the human papillomavirus, which represents a serious health problem worldwide. This study presents the case of a 39-year-old female patient who visited the department of ophthalmology due to a lobulated lesion that affected the cornea in the right eye, of 6 months of progress, accompanied by scarce lacrimation and pain of mild intensity that was relieved with habitual analgesics. Due to the clinical and macroscopic characteristics of the lesion, it was interpreted as a conjunctival intraepithelial neoplasia. Surgery was decided to perform exeresis and anatomopathological study. The diagnosis reached was a moderately differentiated and infiltrating squamous cell carcinoma of the bulbar conjunctiva, associated with cytotoxic changes due to human papillomavirus, confirmed by nuclear and cytoplasmatic positivity for the p16 immunohistochemical marker.

Keywords

• carcinoma, squamous cell
• ophthalmology
• conjunctiva
• biopsy.