Malignant tumours of the eye and adnexa.

We analysed 262 consecutive histopathologically proved cases of malignant tumours of the eye and its adnexa seen over a nine year period. Two peaks were observed in the age distribution one in the first decade due to retinoblastoma and another between forty one to sixty years due to malignant lid tumours especially meibomian carcinoma. Males (56%) were affected more often. Intraocular tumours (34%) formed the commonest group of malignant orbito-ocular tumours; lacrimal gland tumours (3%) occurred least frequently. Of the individual tumours, retinoblastoma (32%) was seen most often followed by squamous cell carcinoma (25%). The frequency of meibomian gland carcinoma in Madras was significantly more than in North India. Extra-ocular malignant melanomas out-numbered intraocular (uveal) malignant melanomas. The significance of these observations is discussed.