Ductopapillary apocrine carcinoma of the eyelid metastatic to the parotid gland: report of a case diagnosed by fine-needle aspiration biopsy.

Ductopapillary apocrine carcinoma (DPAC) of the eyelid is a rare malignant neoplasm in the periocular region. The relative rarity of this tumor is a diagnostic challenge to the cytopathologist, especially when present as a metastatic lesion to an intraparotid lymph node, where the differential diagnosis includes primary parotid neoplasms, as well as various other metastatic malignancies. There are only a few reported cases of recurrent and metastatic DPAC of the eyelid, and to our knowledge, metastatic DPAC diagnosed by fine-needle aspiration biopsy (FNAB) has not been described. We report a case of a 65-year-old African-American male with a history of ductopapillary apocrine adenocarcinoma of the eyelid, diagnosed 6 weeks ago now presenting with a recurrence in the same area. Magnetic resonance imaging of the head and neck revealed an intraparotid mass also. FNAB of the parotid mass showed a well-differentiated papillary adenocarcinoma with a cystic component, similar to a previously excised ductopapillary apocrine adenocarcinoma of the eyelid.