Abstract: Malignant melanoma of eyelid（MME） is a rare ocular tumor characterized by high malignancy, rapid progression and poor prognosis, accounting for less than 1% of eyelid tumors. MME has an increasing tendency in recent years. MME originates from nevus cells, epidermal melanocytes, or dermal melanocytes. The elderly population is the main group at risk for developing MME, which mainly occurs in the inner and outer canthus and develops in the direction of skin and conjunctiva. The development process is highly variable, which may rapidly grow into a large mass, or slowly increase. Sometimes the local lesions may be small, but distant metastasis has already occurred. The average survival time of late-stage patients is 7.5 months, and the 2-year and 5-year survival rates are 15% and 5% respectively. Early diagnosis and early surgical resection is the best choice to cure MME.

Key words: eyelid, melanoma